By Aditi Balbir INDIA’S BEAUTIFUL and often off the beaten track destinations have been the foundation for V Resorts. Our main aim has been to introduce unique vacations or experiences for the leisure traveller. We have been consistently-developing effective solutions and carefully designing processes that help maintain and monetize properties-with-5-25 rooms, across offbeat locations of India. V provides enriched vacations that imbibe the local flavour and activities prevalent around each property. It engages with experts for designing experiences around yoga, rafting, kayaking, angling, bird watching, trekking, cycling, national park safaris and village tours. I strongly believe that a-business flourishes if it reflects what you stand for, your beliefs and values. In my case V Resorts began because of my passion for travelling and discovering new places. Hence we decided to focus only on offbeat vacation places and developing new destinations for travel. However, it has become much bigger in scope than just pure travel. At V Resorts, we tie up with the local community to help run our resorts - from recruitment, to market development, arranging local activities and cultural excursions to tying up with farmers and local artisans for fresh produce & local products - all with the intention to help the customer experience the particular culture of that place. We strongly believe that developing new destinations is viable and feasible only if it is followed by development of the community that lives there. And this is further fuelled by tourism. As people dart to visit those offbeat villages and towns, they in turn start to flourish. I would like to give you a short anecdote of a boatman in Sattal.-A boat ride in Sattal usually costs Rs 300 but the irony lies in the fact that a local boatman who takes us for a joyous ride in the peaceful lake of Sattal earns only Rs 50 from the total amount. In the process the annual income of a local boatmen is Rs 50000 only. But since the time we have started patronizing the local boatmen and selling boating as a package their income have simply doubled. With more than 2000 guests visiting our resorts in a year and almost everyone going for a boat ride we contribute to a great extent in increasing the yearly income of a local boatman. We-began our journey in 2010 with a unique property in Corbet and within 5 years of inception,-V-Resorts-has under its mantle 11-resorts-in the most exquisite locations in and around Delhi- 1 in-Rajasthan, 5 in Uttrakhand, 1 in Uttar Pradesh, 2 in Himachal Prades and 2 more coming up in Rajasthan. We are now focusing on the wildlife belt in Madhya Pradesh & Maharashtra (Pench, Panna, Kahna, Tadoba, Satpura) and another 5 destinations around Pune and Mumbai (Ganpatipue, Bhor, Nasik, etc). We've already started identifying a few places in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. The idea is to have 10 places each around Mumbai and Bangalore in the next 3-4 months. We plan to have approximately 1500 rooms (expanding to 100 resorts) under our brand in the next 2 years and be a pan Indian presence. Aditi Balbir is Founder and Managing Director of V Resorts.
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By Manish Dayya GOA AS a destination has always been doing well. This is one state, which has always seen an upward trend. Initially this state always saw an upward trend in terms of occupancies, ARRS, RevPARS, year on year the growth was almost 8 to 10 per cent. The correction that happened really only balanced out the occupancies. In the last two or three years, if you see, the occupancies have really not shot up, but they have been stable. Hotels have done 74 per cent occupancies YTD. This is irrespective of switching from being a six month destination only managing charter clients to managing domestic segment to fill up in the off season and now it is a destination which not only caters to leisure travellers but its become a destination which is sought after by the MICE traveller and by wedding and events. To its advantage, Goa is also very well connected. Through airlines, railways and road transport, things have only been getting better. In the last 3-4 years, there has been a hike of 8 to 10 per cent in terms of actual numbers of visitors coming to Goa. So, technically it saw a growth in the last four years starting from 25 lakhs to 30 lakhs. Out of this 30 lakhs, about 5 lakhs is international’the largest number from Russia, UK and then Germany. The international travellers usually come on a small budget, there was a time when Goa was affordable for them, today it is getting a little expensive from the charters point of view, but this shortfall is being filled up really well by the domestic travellers. I think Goa has no competition as a leisure travel destination from within India, the competition is with other international destinations. The spending power is now with the domestic travellers. They are the ones who spend more. They may compromise on the stay aspect, since we like a bargain. You will not see them around in hotels, but moving around and spending on retail as well as most importantly in Goa, the casinos. Today, if you see the casinos, they are almost totally dependent on Indian travellers. If you ask me, last year things were very different because elements like the Russian charter tourists also contributed very well to Goa, this year hotels have seen a dip of almost 12 per cent in their occupancies in terms of the low charter movement, all put together. The rooms opened up for domestic travellers who are used to spending more. ARRs and revPARS did increase.- The average ARRS are much better than they were last year. While they have seen a drop in their occupancies, they have seen an increase in their ADRs of almost 20 per cent. Which means Goa does not really need to worry. Born and brought up in Goa, Manish Dayya, has recently been promoted from GM, Grand Mercure Goa Shrem Resort and Novotel Goa Shrem Resort to-Area General Manager, Accor Hotels Lavasa and General Manager of Novotel Lavasa.
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By BW Hotelier ACCOR ASIA Pacific has been appointed by Pristine Island Investments to manage Mercure Maldives Kooddoo Resort and Pullman Maldives Maamutaa Resort, two new resorts being built Maldives. The Mercure and Pullman are expected to open in 2016 and 2018 respectively, and will be located in the south of the Maldives in the Gaafu Alifu Atoll in the Indian Ocean. The Mercure Maldives Kooddoo Resort aims to provide the best-value accommodation in Maldives, with 68 villas including 43 located over water and 25 scattered along the white sandy beach. The resort will be built using local materials, bright colours with the interiors reflecting the Maldivian culture and the spirit of travel. The resort is expected to be the only Maldivian beach resort directly accessible by domestic plane, without the need of an additional speedboat journey. Facilities will include an all-day restaurant, lobby lounge, pool and pool bar, sunset bar, spa and gym as well as a range of watersports including a dive centre. The 120-villa Pullman Maldives Maamutaa Resort, which is slated to open in 2018, will be a ’one-island, one-resort development’ located 10 minutes by speedboat from the new airport Maamutaa Island which spans 195,000 square metres. The property is expected to offer its guests five-star services and facilities including 80 overwater villas and 40 villas dotted around the pristine beach, two swimming pools, a lounge, an all-day dining restaurant, a specialty restaurant, a sunset bar perched over the lagoon, spa and fitness centre, organic gardens, tennis court, kids club, beach playground as well as a dive centre and watersports centre. The announcement comes at a time when the Maldives are enjoying record visitor numbers with 120,468 tourists arriving in February 2015, the highest number recorded in the history of Maldives tourism. Asia Pacific currently accounts for around 44 per cent of visitor arrivals (with China the number one source country) and Europe accounting for 49 per cent of visitor arrivals.
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By BW Hotelier THE PARK Hotel group launched their second ’Zone by The Park’ branded hotel in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Unveiled within three months of the first property launch in Coimbatore, the brand looks forward towards expanding to other cities such as Mahabalipuram, Chennai and Raipur in 2015 itself. Zone by The Park, Jaipur is a 47 room property centrally located at Madho Singh Road, Bani Park and according to promotional material, it ’aims to inculcate the best use of buzzing spaces, contemporary design, creative interiors, multifunctional spaces, restaurants, bars and vibrant nightlife’. The hotel offers an all-day dining restaurant, Bazaar--a world cuisine diner just off the lobby offering multi-pricing options. The property also offers Playa by Zone, a poolside play area for adults that serves cocktails and snacks. Zone by The Park, Jaipur has a 2500 sq. ft. banquet hall for weddings, conferences and events and a 500 sq. ft. business centre. Rooms come in four categories: Zone Room, Zone Trio, Zone Quad and Zone Suite and offers complimentary Wi-Fi in all its areas for all residents and non-resident guests. The hotel also features Vitalia, the gym and spa for wellness and fitness. Speaking at the launch, Vijay Dewan, Managing Director, Apeejay Surrendra Park hotels Ltd. said, ’Zone by The Park has been envisioned to cater to the needs of design conscious customers. With an aim to have a slice of The Park in every city people travel to, we are expanding ’Zone by The Park’ and are delighted to announce the launch of the second property in Jaipur.’ ARRs are aiming to be between Rs. 3000 and Rs. 5000, according to Santhosh Kutty, General Manager, Operations and Development, Zone by The Park Hotels. The core team of the new property is led by Director of Operations, Harish Kumar and includes Executive Sous Chef Harsh Rawat and Assistant Sales Manager Karandeep Singh.
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By BW Hotelier INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS Group (IHG) recently announced new enhancements to its existing loyalty programme, IHG Rewards Club that focusses on building more personalised relationships with its 84 million members worldwide. Findings from IHG’s 2015 trends report suggested that consumers are looking for more than an effortless transaction with their chosen brands and want a rewarding relationship over a sustained period of time. Following the research,IHG Rewards Club will now introduce a new membership level, to better reward its most loyal members with the most relevant benefits. The research also revealed the importance of ’recognition’ to members who want to feel rewarded for loyalty. In response, IHG as part of the new reward program will enhance its ability to deliver a personalised experience for members, before, during and after their stay. IHG Rewards Club will evolve over 2015 and 2016 by introducing a new top membership level in July 2015 wherein travelers can reach the level by earning 75,000 qualifying points or staying at IHG hotels for 75 qualifying nights, over the course of a year. The club will also offer 100% extra bonus points on qualifying stays to its customers and will allow, members of this new level to choose between receiving 25,000 points or upgrading a friend or family member to Platinum. Club members will need to earn just 10,000 qualifying points or stay for 10 qualifying nights to be eligible for Gold membership. Gold members will need to earn 40,000 qualifying points or stay for 40 qualifying nights to reach Platinum membership. IHG is also enhancing its ability to learn about members and then utilise this information through a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. This system will enable hotels to respond to members’ preferences at every stage of the guest journey and offer services and experiences that are personally relevant to them. To enable IHG to reward its guests starting from May 2016, IHG will expire all points for IHG Rewards Club Members if they have not earned or redeemed any points at all in the previous 12 months. IHG Rewards Club members will continue to maintain their point balances simply by completing a qualifying stay at one of IHG’s 4,800 hotels or redeeming some of their existing points during a membership year.
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By Shantanu Jain IPG MEDIABRANDS India, in an effort to boost online holiday bookings has joined hands with Google and the travel industry to launch The Great Indian Travel Festival to take place from April 18 to 26, 2015. The first of its kind online festival will offer deals and discounts on travel and stay packages on more than 50 holiday destinations both in and out of India. The participants of The Great Indian Travel Festival will be key market players of the hospitality industry including brands like Google, Cleartrip, MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, Yatra, Jet Airways, Indigo, British Airways and Spice-Jet. Tour companies Cox & Kings and Thomas and startups such as Oyo Rooms and Doorstepforex will also be offering deals to Indian travelers to capitalise on the upcoming holiday season. Speaking on the festival Vikas Agnihotri, Industry director, Google India, said, ’There is significant headroom for growth in the hospitality industry and initiatives like these can contribute immensely in promoting the industry and also positively influencing the behavior of- online users’. ’Emphasizing on the concept behind the festival, Deepak Tuli, Co-founder and COO at Goibibo one of the partners of the festival said, ’The idea is inspired by the themes of shopping festivals during December. We thought why not do something on the similar lines for travel as its one of the biggest industries. Our main intention behind the festival is to develop the faith of Indian traveler to book hotel and travel deals online.’ ’The festival will be offering over 1500 deals from multiple brands and our expectation from the festival is around 3 Million website visits from users’, added Rahul Marwaha, Executive Vice-President of Interactive Avenues, one of the partners of the festival. Shantanu Jain is Junior Correspondent, BW Hotelier.-
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By Shantanu Jain CONFIDENCE IN consumers to go for online hotel bookings is on the rise in India according to a report titled Understanding The Indian Hotel Buyer, compiled by Google India at The Oberoi, New Delhi. An estimated 84 lakh Indians are likely to book hotels on online by 2016. The report was based on face-to-face research by TNS after interviewing 3716 travelers who were active internet users and were aged between 18 and 54 years. The sample group came from Metros, Tier one and Tier two cities, and had booked hotel rooms in the last one year online. The findings of the report projected the online hotel booking industry to be worth $1.8 Billion by 2016 from the current $0.8 Billion. While today, only 29 per cent of users book hotels online, the total number of users who research for hotels online but book offline remained high. Interestingly 83 per cent of people who research for hotels online perform an online transaction at least once a month that symbolises the growing trust factor among people to book monetary transactions online, according to the report. In terms of consumer behavior, the report revealed that 57 per cent of users who research for hotels online but book offline, prefer relaxation trips and 36 per cent of users who research online and book hotels online prefer luxury leisure trips. Another key finding of the report suggested that more number of women (50 per cent) research and book hotels online compared to men (41 per cent). Speaking on the report, Vikas Agnihotri, Industry Director, Google India said, ’The research findings reveal the high growth potential for online hotel bookings in India. While the overall user base of people looking for information on hotels online was very high, the conversion is still happening online.’ The report also highlighted the growing use of mobile phones as the preferred choice for accessing the internet in India. On Google, hotel searches from mobile saw 30 times growth from 2011-2014, The figures were validated in offline research as 27 per cent respondents agreed to be using mobile phones to search and book for hotels and over 56 per cent of the total users who book hotels online have a travel app installed. The report also found a rise in short duration trips in India as 64 per cent of respondents preferring short trips of less than 5 days. Budget accommodation came across as the most popular choice for travelers with 49 per cent users booking budget hotels, 32 per cent economy hotels and 19 per cent users opting for luxury hotels. Two-thirds of the travelers prefer paying offline or directly at hotels rather than making an online transaction. In terms of the barriers for booking hotels online, lack of safety and trust were the top deterrents and respondents cited low trust in online portals for monetary transactions. Complicated terms and conditions, availability of better discounts offline were a few other reasons given by respondents. Shantanu Jain is Junior Correspondent, BW Hotelier.
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By BW Hotelier SOMNATH DEY (photo left) takes over as the Executive Assistant Manager- Food and Beverage at the Hyatt Regency Delhi. Dey brings as over 17 years of experience and will be responsible for leading the food and beverage operations and provide strategic guidance and leadership in areas of business profitability, marketing, employee satisfaction and owner relationship. Previously, Dey was Director of Food and Beverage at Hyatt Regency Delhi. Prior to this, he has held various positions in the company’s food and beverage portfolio.-Dey began his career at Taj Bengal Kolkata in 1997. Akhil Arora (photo right) has been appointed, Director of Rooms at Hyatt Regency Delhi. Arora has 12 years of experience in the industry. He will now be responsible for managing room operations comprising of 507 guest rooms and suites in addition to a residential apartment. He began his career as a Management Trainee with The Leela Palaces and Resorts and subsequently worked at The Imperial New Delhi and with The Oberoi Group in Front Office as well as in Food and Beverage. In 2010, Arora had the opportunity to pre-open The Leela Palace New Delhi at Chanakyapuri as Front Office Manager. His last assignment prior to joining Hyatt was as Director of Rooms for the 763 room complex Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre & Marriott Executive Apartments.
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