By Sourish Bhattacharyya
STARWOOD HOTELS & Resorts, South Asia, is in discussions with potential partners for an Indian rollout of the global hospitality behemoth’s tenth brand, Tribute Portfolio, which opened its account with Miami’s iconic ocean-front hotel, Royal Palms South Beach, launched in 1939 and located on the world-famous Collins Avenue.
’Our goal is to have at least one Tribute Portfolio hotel up and running in the country by the end of 2015,’ Sudeep Jain, Starwood South Asia’s Vice President (Acquisition & Development), said in an exclusive interview with www.bwhotelier.com. The Tribute Portfolio, incidentally, will be Starwood’s second global aggregation of independent hotels, first being The Luxury Collection, whose most visible representations in India are ITC’s 10 elite hotels, including the ITC Maurya in New Delhi. It is yet another affirmation of Starwood’s determination to stay on top of the upper end of the hospitality business.
Starwood visualises Tribute Portfolio as a chain of independently owned ’upper upscale hotels’, to quote Jain, ’with an independent identity of their own and a story behind them.’ These are owner-driven hotels with character that are reputed locally, but do not have access to the kind of sales and distribution systems that Starwood can bring on board.
For the global chain, which has seen turbulent times in recent months, starting with the resignation of its former CEO, Fritz van Passchen, this may prove to be a masterstroke that will help it drive numbers as well as quality to stay at the top of the luxury and upper upscale segments of the business. Tribute Portfolio is expected to complement The Luxury Collection, a 21-year-old brand, which has seen its global footprint expand three times in the past decade, registering 60 per cent of this growth in the last five years alone.
Starwood’s CEO Adam Aron is predictably bullish. ’We believe Tribute Portfolio will be an exciting solution for hotel owners of distinct properties who wish to maintain their independent spirit, yet benefit from Starwood’s powerful distribution, loyalty and sales platforms,’ he said, and added: ’Our mission with Tribute Portfolio is very simple: bring great hotels in great destinations to our loyal SPG members, who make up more than half of all Starwood stays.’
Dave Marr, Senior Vice President of Brand Management, North America, and Global Brand Leader for the Tribute Portfolio, pointed to the obvious benefit: ’Nearly 50 per cent of upper upscale hotels in the U.S. are independent, and likewise, 60 per cent of four-star hotels globally are not affiliated with a brand flag. This provides Starwood with a vast landscape to grow Tribute Portfolio.’
The idea of Tribute Portfolio was born out of an international survey that revealed 89 per cent of the members of the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) loyalty programme were interested in staying at independent hotels, particularly for leisure travel and special occasion trips to unique destinations. Additionally, 70 per cent of the members said they had already stayed at an unbranded hotel property.
Aron pinpointed the obvious advantage. ’We recognise that independent hotels also attract guests who are not already affiliated with SPG,’ he said. ’Tribute Portfolio will provide a clear opportunity for us to grow our SPG member base and deliver more loyal guests across all of our Starwood hotels worldwide.’
Explaining how Tribute Portfolio came about, Jain recounted: ’We heard what our customers told us. They are looking out for independent properties with a local flavour, and not generic hotels. But they also expressed apprehensions about the quality standards of these hotels.’ The message of the owners of these hotels, according to Jain, was unambiguous too. ’They said to us, ’We love our independence but we fall short on sales and marketing’.’
For Starwood, this feedback provided a business opportunity waiting to be snapped up. With one new brand of hotels, which should have 100 addresses flying the SPG flag by 2020, the global chain would be able to offer a smorgasbord of hotels with a history and character to its SPG members, adding to it the guarantee of consistent quality and service standards. In turn, it would provide marketing muscle to the owners of these hotels, without binding them down to each one of the prescriptive brand standards that the other Starwood hotels have to follow.
The advantages for the owners couldn’t be clearer. By aligning with Starwood, to put it the way Jain does, the owners of independent hotels get access to a global network of more than 5,000 sales representatives and 20 million Starwood guests ’who are willing to open their purses a lot more’. More importantly, they can run their hotels ’without the handcuffs of strict brand controls’.
The Author is Consulting Editor of BW Hotelier.
STARWOOD HOTELS & Resorts, South Asia, is in discussions with potential partners for an Indian rollout of the global hospitality behemoth’s tenth brand, Tribute Portfolio, which opened its account with Miami’s iconic ocean-front hotel, Royal Palms South Beach, launched in 1939 and located on the world-famous Collins Avenue.
’Our goal is to have at least one Tribute Portfolio hotel up and running in the country by the end of 2015,’ Sudeep Jain, Starwood South Asia’s Vice President (Acquisition & Development), said in an exclusive interview with www.bwhotelier.com. The Tribute Portfolio, incidentally, will be Starwood’s second global aggregation of independent hotels, first being The Luxury Collection, whose most visible representations in India are ITC’s 10 elite hotels, including the ITC Maurya in New Delhi. It is yet another affirmation of Starwood’s determination to stay on top of the upper end of the hospitality business.
Starwood visualises Tribute Portfolio as a chain of independently owned ’upper upscale hotels’, to quote Jain, ’with an independent identity of their own and a story behind them.’ These are owner-driven hotels with character that are reputed locally, but do not have access to the kind of sales and distribution systems that Starwood can bring on board.
For the global chain, which has seen turbulent times in recent months, starting with the resignation of its former CEO, Fritz van Passchen, this may prove to be a masterstroke that will help it drive numbers as well as quality to stay at the top of the luxury and upper upscale segments of the business. Tribute Portfolio is expected to complement The Luxury Collection, a 21-year-old brand, which has seen its global footprint expand three times in the past decade, registering 60 per cent of this growth in the last five years alone.
Starwood’s CEO Adam Aron is predictably bullish. ’We believe Tribute Portfolio will be an exciting solution for hotel owners of distinct properties who wish to maintain their independent spirit, yet benefit from Starwood’s powerful distribution, loyalty and sales platforms,’ he said, and added: ’Our mission with Tribute Portfolio is very simple: bring great hotels in great destinations to our loyal SPG members, who make up more than half of all Starwood stays.’
Dave Marr, Senior Vice President of Brand Management, North America, and Global Brand Leader for the Tribute Portfolio, pointed to the obvious benefit: ’Nearly 50 per cent of upper upscale hotels in the U.S. are independent, and likewise, 60 per cent of four-star hotels globally are not affiliated with a brand flag. This provides Starwood with a vast landscape to grow Tribute Portfolio.’
The idea of Tribute Portfolio was born out of an international survey that revealed 89 per cent of the members of the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) loyalty programme were interested in staying at independent hotels, particularly for leisure travel and special occasion trips to unique destinations. Additionally, 70 per cent of the members said they had already stayed at an unbranded hotel property.
Aron pinpointed the obvious advantage. ’We recognise that independent hotels also attract guests who are not already affiliated with SPG,’ he said. ’Tribute Portfolio will provide a clear opportunity for us to grow our SPG member base and deliver more loyal guests across all of our Starwood hotels worldwide.’
Explaining how Tribute Portfolio came about, Jain recounted: ’We heard what our customers told us. They are looking out for independent properties with a local flavour, and not generic hotels. But they also expressed apprehensions about the quality standards of these hotels.’ The message of the owners of these hotels, according to Jain, was unambiguous too. ’They said to us, ’We love our independence but we fall short on sales and marketing’.’
For Starwood, this feedback provided a business opportunity waiting to be snapped up. With one new brand of hotels, which should have 100 addresses flying the SPG flag by 2020, the global chain would be able to offer a smorgasbord of hotels with a history and character to its SPG members, adding to it the guarantee of consistent quality and service standards. In turn, it would provide marketing muscle to the owners of these hotels, without binding them down to each one of the prescriptive brand standards that the other Starwood hotels have to follow.
The advantages for the owners couldn’t be clearer. By aligning with Starwood, to put it the way Jain does, the owners of independent hotels get access to a global network of more than 5,000 sales representatives and 20 million Starwood guests ’who are willing to open their purses a lot more’. More importantly, they can run their hotels ’without the handcuffs of strict brand controls’.
The Author is Consulting Editor of BW Hotelier.
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