By Rishi Puri SO FAR this year has been fairly good, if not exceptionally good as far as budget hotels are concerned. Green shoots of growth can be seen but we are nowhere near our real potential. MICE segment has picked up but tourist arrivals are still not as good as expected. The silver lining is the growth of domestic tourism, which is going up on higher base. Room fares are neither going up nor dropping. That way the market is fairly stable at least, for the mid-market hotels like ours. Occupancy levels are also much higher as compared to last year. Aggressive marketing by room aggregators have expanded the market. That has indirectly helped us by opening up new market vistas for us. However, we still alert to competition. They are trying to bring stand-alone unbranded, unorganised-and budget properties under one head and refurbishing them to a certain level. This is a service industry where setting standards and following them takes time. Having said that, it does not mean that they can’t do it. But even if they are successful, it will have a marginal impact on brands like us. Rather it will draw more tourists from which we can also stand to benefit. This year we are opening two properties, in Jodhpur, Rajasthan and in Nepal. We have received great response for our new Jodhpur property. The Nepal hotel suffered damage from the earthquake and a newer wing is being repaired and will soon be open for business. Three more properties are in pipeline, in Agra, Jammu, Bengaluru-Jayanagar, these-are in the final stages of refurbishment. All three properties are located-centrally and will be F&B oriented with multi-dining & banqueting spaces. Our next five years will see us expanding in a big way. In two years time, we expect to have a minimum of 40 properties in operation from the present 22 under our brand. We are keenly exploring expansion-in Kenya, Uganda and some other countries in the African continent. We have also recently launched our new website which is more user-friendly in terms of room inventory, booking and property details.-As a group, strategically we are-also-looking at growing in tier 2 and tier 3 cities as-these-offer better return on investment, we feel. The author is Vice President Operations, Lords Hotels & Resorts.
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By Sourish Bhattacharyya WITH MARRIOTT International sealing a $12.2 billion merger deal with Starwood Hotels & Resorts, beating rumours of Hyatt Corporation being the front-runner in the race to pick up the owner of the St Regis and Sheraton brands, among others, that has been scouting the market for a suitor, it has made itself the world's largest hotel entity. Marriott will now have 5,500 hotels across categories in more than 100 countries, 1.1 million rooms and a combined loyalty club membership of 75 million (54 million from the Marriott Rewards and 21 million from Starwood Preferred Guest programmes), making it a force that has never been seen before in the industry. The announcement pushed the Starwood share value up by 4 per cent in pre-market action at the New York Stock Exchange. Arne Sorenson, according to a media release issued to announce the merger, will remain President and Chief Executive Officer of Marriott International following the merger and the corporation’s headquarters will remain in Bethesda, Maryland. Marriott’s board of directors following the closing of the deal will increase from 11 to 14 members with the expected addition of three members of the Starwood board. ’The transaction is subject to Marriott International and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide shareholder approvals, completion of Starwood’s planned disposition of its timeshare business, regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions,’ the media release added. ’Assuming receipt of the necessary approvals, the parties expect the transaction to close in mid-2016.’ "When we looked at the industry going forward, we think that size matters. And when we had the opportunity at Starwood to combine with Marriott ’ to be the biggest hotel company in the world by a wide margin, we knew that strategically this was a great fit. The industrial logic is superb," Adam Aron of Starwood said while appearing on CNBC's Mad Money show with Jim Cramer. "We think it's a tremendous deal because we can pull these two companies together. We can obviously get cross synergies; that will be the easy part," Sorenson said on the same show. How the merger pans out in India and the rest of the neighbourhood will be interesting to watch. Starwood’s Managing Director (India) and Regional Vice-President (South Asia), Dilip Puri, said in Dhaka on Sunday night that the group was on track with its plan to add 47 new hotels to its existing inventory of 54 in the next three years. Puri was speaking at the formal opening of Le Meridien Dhaka, the first five-star deluxe hotel to open in Bangladesh after a hiatus of eight years and a half. Marriott International, meanwhile, has announced that over the next three to five years, it will have 80 operating hotels in South Asia ’ 28 are already up and running; 52 are under construction. These 80 hotels will include 40 in the Courtyard by Marriott category. The author is Consulting Editor of BW Hotelier.-
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By BW Hotelier MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL and Alitrip have joined forces in a move that will make it easier than ever for travellers to book hotel rooms online and on their mobile phones. The room inventory of Marriott International hotels portfolio will be made available to Alitrip users through a directly operated on-line flagship store - a first for a major global hotel chain. ’We are delighted to be the first global hotel company to sign such a significant agreement with Alitrip,’ said Craig S. Smith, president and managing director of Marriott International, Asia Pacific. ’With 19 Marriott International brands, including JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton and Marriott Hotels, and over 4,000 hotels available through Alitrip, Chinese travellers will see a major increase in the number of rooms they can book through Alitrip.’ ’The agreement illustrates Marriott International’s continued efforts toward the creation of a complete and effortless online- and mobile-powered travel experience for our guests. We aim to be the favorite global brand for China’s hundreds of millions of Internet users, who may be looking to travel both inside and outside of China,’ Smith added. The parties also plan to explore enhancing the user experience through the ’Post Post Pay’ service launched by Alitrip. ’Post Post Pay’ is an innovative program that allows qualified customers to reserve hotel rooms through Alitrip without paying a deposit and to enjoy express check-out service which further enhances the consumer experience and the operational efficiency of hotels. Li Shaohua, President of Alitrip, said, ’We are excited to partner with global hotel chains such as Marriott to broaden our hotel offerings to customers. Alitrip is the go-to platform for Chinese travelers looking for a full range of choices and customized travel experience, and this cooperation with Marriott will make travel planning easier than ever for our users.’ The announcement comes just two months after another significant partnership agreement between Marriott International and Ant Financial Services Group, a related-party of Alibaba Group, reflecting a growing relationship between these major global brands. On September 7, Marriott International and Ant Financial announced an agreement to roll out Alipay to Marriott International’s hotels and resorts. In 2014, the number of China’s outbound travelers topped the 100 million mark, according to the China National Tourism Administration[1].- And according to the China Tourism Research Institute, the first six months of 2015 saw China’s outbound travel increase 12.1 percent compared with the same period last year. China now has the world’s largest group of outbound tourists, with much of the growth driven by a rise in personal income, easing visa policies for China with various countries around the world. The number of Chinese outbound travelers is expected to grow to 200 million by 2020. Alitrip served more than 50 million Chinese travelers over the past year through its innovative travel solutions which has made travel planning more convenient than ever. Alitrip offers a selection of more than 250,000 hotel options and enables users to book hotels and hostels worldwide.
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By BW Hotelier AIRBNB RECENTLY announced a new product suite to empower hosts around the globe at its third-annual Airbnb Open host conference. The new tools and services are personalized to meet the individual needs of every host. The product suite was developed to reduce the complexities of hosting - whether a host joined yesterday or has been opening their home for years, the hosting experience is now easier than ever. From pricing to easing the arrival of a guest, the personalised tools let hosts spend more time building lasting connections with guests instead of managing their listings. Additionally, to attract a new type of traveller and expand the Airbnb for Business program, hosts can add a badge noting that their listings meets certain common expectations of business travellers. ’As a company founded by hosts and led by hosts, we wanted to ensure that our host community played a key role in developing the right tools to make them successful,’ said Joe Zadeh, VP of Product, Airbnb. ’Our team has spent countless hours working with hosts through feedback sessions, research and testing, to understand their needs, which led us to build a suite of tools that provide tailored insights to help our hosts meet their goals. This product suite simplifies many aspects of being a host and allows them to focus on what they do best - provide truly great hospitality.’ The new product suite includes personalized host tools, resources, and a new way for hosts to get involved in the Airbnb for Business program. Airbnb for Business: Business Travel Ready ’ As an expansion of the Airbnb for Business program, hosts can now identify their listings as ’Business Travel Ready,’ allowing more hosts to tap into the rapidly growing universe of business travellers already staying on Airbnb. Listings that are Business Travel Ready will be identified by hosts as having business-friendly amenities, including Wi-Fi, a designated workspace, iron, hair dryer, hangers, as well as 24-hour check-in and a policy of no host cancellations within seven days. Find out more at: www.airbnb.com/business-travel-ready Personalised Tools: Host Assist ’ Host Assist allows for easy key exchange and keyless entry without the need to manually schedule anything. Soon hosts can connect their Airbnb accounts with partners, including August, Danalock, Igloohome, Kevo, Keycafe, Lockstate, Miwa, Nest, and Yale Locks to easily coordinate guest entry without the need to wait for guests, hide keys, or manually schedule and send virtual keys. Smart Pricing ’ Smart Pricing pulls insights from booking trends and similar listing information and allows hosts to set pricing controls that automatically adjust to demands in order to stay competitively priced. Smart Pricing is tailored to individual listings so hosts can offer a price that is most likely to attract bookings, day by day. Host Home ’ The new home is more personalized to an individual host’s needs, allowing them to do more with less. Hosts will see everything that is important to them in one view -- pending requests, upcoming guests, alerts, and reviews. Host Resources: Community Center ’ The Community Center is an improved forum where hosts can access the wisdom of the Airbnb community. They can find relevant information and advice, whether looking to better understand the basics to hosting or getting tips on hospitality. New features include search, direct messaging, and tagging users. Hosting Toolkits ’ Hosting Toolkits is a resource center that captures the voices and stories of Airbnb’s most successful hosts to provide insights on best practices directly with other hosts. Through videos and narratives, the Host Toolkits will equip hosts with the fundamentals needed to be a great host from day one - from creating a listing to the checkout process. Host Mentors ’ New hosts can become stronger by working one-on-one with experienced hosts matched in their same cities. Host Mentors will provide encouragement and guidance by sharing knowledge, success stories, and must-have tips. With the help of a Host Mentor, new hosts can provide excellent guest experiences from the get-go. The product suite will empower hosts around the globe to attract new guests and meet their desired goals.
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By Rashmi Pradhan NAVI MUMBAI is an exciting market for the hospitality sector with fast development and upcoming new branded hotels. Speaking to BW Hotelier, Sumit Kant, VP and General Manager, Four Points by Sheraton, Navi Mumbai, Vashi, began by stating, ’The overall performance of the hotel has been very encouraging.- We are witnessing a growth of 13 per cent in RevPAR and the occupancy hovers around 85-87 per cent. Our endeavor is to increase the weekend occupancy. We have come up with some exciting weekend package which has shown very good response and helped us in taking up the RevPAR. We are also constantly looking at increasing the ADR through focused revenue management.’ Kant said leisure travelers comprise 12 per cent of his occupancy whereas 88 per cent was business travelers. The hotel’s aim is to increase the weekend occupancy via things like weekend packages specially designed taking into consideration guests’ requirement. Speaking to us about trends in the hospitality industry, Kant said, ’The industry has evolved in the past few years and is trying to keep pace with the widely traveled and knowledgeable guest’s requirements. There has been a tremendous increase in women travelers and the focus for the coming years will be on the millennial segment. Guests have become self-sufficient and want to be engaged. We have seen many changes technology-wise and surprisingly and interestingly, Gen-X is also becoming tech savvy. Mobile check-in, robotic butler are interesting additions.’ He further informed, ’There will be further innovations technology-wise. There will be a need for seamless technology. More and more hotels will start using robots for the delivery of certain services. Stringent security measures will have to happen in data management and its protection. We would see smart buildings; the guests will opt for hotels with better air quality and that will have to be displayed in rooms. The guests will start patronising more the hotels which are environmental friendly and sustainable.’ In addition, Kant believes that the hotels who give emphasis on the guests’ health and wellbeing will have an edge. Multisensory gastronomy will play a vital role in guest experience. Guests will look at natural, less processed food. Diet by DNA will be the new trend, whereas the guest’s diets will have to be designed by connecting to the guests’ genetic make-up. The author is Assistant Editor of BW Hotelier.
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By BW Hotelier TO COMMEMORATE the fifth anniversary of Hospitality Purchasing Managers' Forum (HPMF), the first-ever Convention and Awards is being held from December 18-19, at Hyatt Regency Mumbai. The theme of the Convention is ’Hum Sab Sath Hai’. Commenting on the event, Nitin Nagrale, Founder and General Secretary, HPMF and Director of Materials, Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Mumbai Powai, (see photo) said, ’The industry needs a collaborative approach towards hospitality procurement and HPMF is determined to create the synergy and cohesiveness. I have always believed in the power of networking and togetherness; we at HPMF will ensure that we work together and create a better environment for the hospitality procurement fraternity.’ There will be a special presentation on Mile Sur Mera Tumhara wherein 20 Purchase Managers will perform together on stage, he added. Nagrale further added, ’At this first ever Convention, we will structure a strategy and create a plan of action to achieve it. My objective is to have a learned procurement person at all hotels be it three-, four- or five-star, which will allow every organisation to excel in procurement activities and benefit the bottom line. Training and development needs will be identified and a solid three-year plan of action will be created to implement the strategies for achieving 100 per cent results.’ The association has invited 150 hospitality purchasing managers from all over India. The synergy, coordinated efforts and the passion will lead to better environment in hospitality procurement. The first day will witness arrivals of delegates from various cities. In the evening there will be a panel discussion on ’Importance of Vendor Relationship Management in the life of a Successful Purchasing Professional’. This will set the tone of the two-day program. The second day will have keynote presentations, two panel discussions and four presentations on different topics covering entire spectrum of hospitality procurement. The topics include Ethics in Purchasing, Sustainability Development, What Not To Do During Negotiations and Who Stole My Cheese. Panel discussion will witness panelists from different fields including an IAS officer, Commissioner of Customs, Commissioner of FSSAI, Director of FICCI and Chairperson from Environment Organization. The second half will be dedicated for B2B events wherein 30 top suppliers of India will have one-on-one meetings with 150 buyers. Talking about the awards, Nagrale said, ’We have initiated HPMF Awards for Procurement Excellence in Hospitality Industry. These awards will help the fraternity to get motivated and work better. The award categories are Emerging Procurement Person of the year, Procurement Person of the year, Female Procurement Person of the year, Best Hospitality Procurement Team, Best Sustainable Development Sensitive Procurement Team and The Living Legend Awards.’
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By BW Hotelier ACCORDING TO the monthly estimates of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) compiled by the Ministry of Tourism, the FTAs during October 2015 were 6.80 lakh as compared to 6.68 lakh during the same period last year and 5.98 lakh in October 2013.There has been a growth of 1.7 per cent in October 2015 over October 2014.-FTAs during the period January-October 2015 were 62.88 lakh with a growth of 4.3 per cent, as compared to the FTAs of 60.28 lakh with a growth of 11.4 per cent in January- October 2014 over January- October 2013. The percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during-October- 2015 among the top 15 source countries was highest from Bangladesh (15.22 per cent), followed by USA (12.99 per cent), UK (11.31 per cent), Sri Lanka (3.69 per cent), Germany (3.62 per cent), Canada (3.58 per cent), Australia (3.37 per cent), Malaysia (3.03 per cent), France (3.01 per cent), Nepal (2.67 per cent),China (2.55), Japan (2.42 per cent), Russian Federation (2.03 per cent), Singapore (1.65 per cent) and Pakistan (1.59 per cent). These top 15 countries account for 72.73 per cent of total FTAs during October 2015. Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from tourism in India during October 2015 were Rs 9,611 crore as compared to Rs 10,041 crore in October 2014 and Rs 8,645 crore in October 2013. FEEs from tourism in January-October 2015 were Rs 1,01,348 crore with a growth of 2.5 per cent as compared to the FEE of Rs 98,901 crore with a growth of 16.3 per cent during January-October 2014 over January- October 2013.
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By BW Hotelier AS PART of rebranding its portfolio, Berggruen Hotels has introduced two new brands and re-positioned its flagship brand Keys Hotels in India. The rebranding, which divides hotels under the Keys’ banner into three separate brands, adds width and depth to its portfolio as it expands its offering to a wider base of business and leisure travellers across different market segments. The rebranding is aligned to best meet the constantly changing needs of the customer. The two new brands unveiled, Keys Prima and Keys Lite draw a sharp distinction between the different market segments they serve. Keys Prima is a premium brand catering to the upper mid market segment, comprising the upscale business and leisure traveller, while Keys Lite is aimed at economy travelers. Speaking about the announcement, Anshu Sarin, CEO, Berggruen Hotels (see photo) said, ’As a hospitality group, we keep evaluating options which allow us to best serve our customers. We have now permeated into wider market segments through brand re-architecting in order to serve and deliver greater satisfaction to our customers across categories. Through this re-structuring we aim to maximize our performance by increasing revenue contribution from our own hotels. We have also restructured our sales drive for sharper focus and better performance and have changed the distribution mix between online and offline.’ ’We have expanded our national footprint by driving revenue from asset light model through the launch of the brand Keys Lite. We are now an e-commerce enabled platform and are fiercely focusing on digital marketing as well. So far we have 35 hotels in 18 cities with over 2200 rooms. We have already acquired hotels in Dehradhun, Delhi - NCR, Indore, Mussorie and Nagpur under our new asset light model ’ Keys Lite. We are here to foster performance with strategic focus on growth and profitability. We plan to add 6 - 8 hotels under Keys Prima and Keys Hotels year on year basis. In addition to this we will add about a 100 hotels under Keys Lite in next 12 months. The expansion will be supported through internal accruals,’ Sarin. Keys Lite will primarily provide hassle-free, comfortable alternate accommodation at extremely competitive prices, fulfilling the needs of the price-conscious guests. This range will not compromise on the service standards and will offer the Keys guidelines of world class service excellence that includes clean rooms, free Wi-Fi, complimentary breakfast and a worry free experience to deliver an absolute value for money. Keys Prima, meanwhile, will offer premium services such as top-of-the line rooms, specialty restaurants, superior room facilities, large and fully equipped banquet and meeting facilities, fitness gym and rejuvenating spa amenities. This brand innovates in meaningful ways and pushes the borders of hospitality to a new level of customer delight. Keys Hotels as a brand will continue to offer smart services which is a combination of comfort with functionality, business facilities with an equally relaxing ambience. Best in the mid-segment market, this range will serve the core mid-market segment, and its impeccable service will cater to the conventional needs of business and leisure guests. Further, the brand promises unique services such as specially designed menu called ’Ghar ka Swaad’ which offers the guests home style menu to provide the feel of being home away from home. The brand also offers ’Breakfast on the Go’ which allows the guests to carry their breakfast in a specially designed bag. To add to this Keys Hotels has elegantly designed special rooms dedicated for women only, ensuring their safety and comfort.
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