Mahabalipuram Creating Huge Market Space for Hospitality

SITUATED IN a closely knit proximity to Chennai and Pondicherry, Mahabalipuram has emerged out to be an ideal tourist destination. The city attracts heritage tourism from around the world, thus creating a huge market for the hospitality industry. Among few others, Radisson Blu Resort Temple Bay conveniently resides on the edge of Bay of Bengal spread across 44 acres of lush landscaped gardens featuring 157 chalets, villas, bungalows and suites. BW Hotelier spoke to Elango Rajendran, General Manager, Radisson Blu Resort Temple Bay, Mahabalipuram who told us more about the hospitality market of the area and his future plans with the property.

“Recently, MICE and weddings have become a huge part of our revenue generating business, as customers are now moving away from conventionally popular locations and venturing into other geographies,” Rajendran started with. According to him, this is urging brands to focus on strengthening these aspects in their respective hotels. “In all, I can foresee a steady growth in the number of hotel openings both big and small in the coming future,” he adds.

Speaking about some of the recent trends, Rajendran educated us about the growing demand for wedding tourism in the city. Commenting more on that he stated, “Beach weddings have been a common sight in places like Goa for a long time. However, wedding parties are now choosing less conventional destinations such as Mahabalipuram. This is because of the stark difference in commercialisation between the two locations.”

Another trend that has become prevalent in the last few years is the rise in weekend travellers and staycationers which is extremely popular among the young crowd.

To improvise the guest services, the hotel has recently re-launched their signature Wharf 2.0 and has plans to do the same for all-day dining restaurant, The Water’s Edge Café. “As of now, our primary focus is on revamping the Water’s Edge café by giving it a new look and feel and the launch of our Pool Brunch,” Rajendran adds. Giving a special place to the F&B, the hotel also hosts two bars, Sindbad and Maritime Tales which are ideal locations to unwind after a tiring day. Along with that, the property is also in its continuous work on enhancing its activity centre at the heritage lobby and renovating a part of the rooms in this segment.

As a resort that offers services for both business and leisure travellers, the property host a wide segment of guests from all walks of life. Approximately 30 percent of the guests are foreigners, remaining others being domestic travellers. The resort boasts one of the largest convention centres in the country (10,500 sq. feet pillar less). October to January is the busiest time of the year for the hotel because of the festive season and also owing to the inbound tourists.

With a record spike in the demand for luxury and budget stays in the city, many hospitality brands have penetrated the market over time. Due to the inflow of international and domestic tourism the affinity towards the region from a business perspective has also received a boost. The hotels in the city offer a courteous combination of old world charm with modern luxuries, which are key elements that vacationers look for while choosing a destination.