Prince Hotels of Japan Mapping its Road to India After Acquiring StayWell Holdings

THE JAPANESE hotel company Prince Hotel, Inc., is all set to expand its global presence after the complete acquisition of Australian hotel management company, StayWell Holdings in the month of October, 2017. This strategic collaboration has paved an easy road for Prince Hotel, Inc., to enter the major hospitality markets, one like India. Currently, StayWell has five operational properties in India, and will be adding two more in its portfolio by the end of 2018.

“After two year of long planning and discussions, this merger adds value to our company. Because of this acquisition we are now able to extend our arms to places we never tried before. Our main purpose is to bring awareness of Prince Hotels in India. After Japan shaking hands for more investments in this country, we sense a huge potential and future,” said Victor Osumi, Managing Executive Officer, Prince Hotels, Inc., in an exclusive interaction with BW Hotelier.

Promising to bring the level of hospitality that might not exist in India, Simon Wan, President & Director, StayWell Holdings, said that they want to introduce luxury brands into global market including India. “India is a critical market, and like any other hotelier we cannot miss this market. Prince Hotel being the largest hotel group in Japan has a very strong distribution of clients from Japan,” he further added.

The company will soon introduce Leisure Inn Plus to India, which will focus the millennial and fall under the range of mid-segment. However in order to compliment the market, the vision is to introduce full range of brands from the merged entity in the India. “We will be looking at the opportunity to bring Prince Luxury brand to India,” Wan told us.

Speaking about the expansion plans in India, Rohit Vig, Managing Director, Staywell Hospitality Group India said, “Mumbai is a key market for us and we are looking at various opportunities there. We are happy to be introduced in two cities like Vijaywada and going up-to resort locations like Manali. The state of Gujarat is still virgin for us and especially with the new connectivity coming in the Ahmedabad-Mumbai train corridor; Ahmedabad in Gujarat will also be our target market.”

Informing about the pricing and room occupancy rate, Vig told us that all the StayWell Hotels that are operated in India holds 70 per cent of occupancy rates. To promote the MICE business, Park Regis Goa is coming up with a new banquet hall that can hold the strength of 1000 people. However, commenting upon the Average Room Rate, Vig Said, “From the latest survey of HVS the ARRs are growing up whereas the occupancy levels are pretty much stabilising. To increase the efficiency and profitability of the hotel, we have increased the Average Room Rates as lower to five per cent and higher to 15 per cent.”

Prince Hotels has a given set target to reach their hotel portfolio to 250 hotels in the next ten years. Prince Hotels, Inc. has 43 hotels under three main brands ‘The Prince’, ‘Grand Prince Hotel’ and ‘Prince Hotel’. Meanwhile, StayWell Holdings operates range of brands in mid-market space like ‘Park Regis’, ‘Leisure Inn Plus’ and 'Leisure Inn.