(Mr Bakaya) Wonderlust 24
1
wonder lust A BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE APRIL 2015 hotels NEWSTRACK 24 SAROVAR HOTELS AND RESORTS EYES EAST AFRICA FOR BUSINESS EXPANSION PHG REBRANDS TO PREFERRED HOTELS & RESORTS SEES STRONG GROWTH POTENTIAL IN THAT REGION; TO OPERATE THREE HOTELS IN AFRICA BY 2016 AIMS TO EXPAND ITS NUMBER OF MEMBER HOTELS TO 45 BY THE END OF 2018 IN INDIA Sulagna Ghosh Sarovar Hotels & Resorts is planning to bolster its presence in the region of Africa with the ad- dition of The Zehneria Portico, Nairobi, opening its doors in April 2015. With this, Sarovar Hotels will be operating two Porticos in Nairobi. The Company is also looking at opening a Premiere property in Nairobi in the mid of 2016, which will make it to three hotels in one city and one coun- try. Ajay K Bakaya, Executive Director, Sarovar Hotels, said that the idea is to expand in Africa, where they see enormous business and growth opportunities. “Africa is a key market where a lot of Indian companies are expanding, and we are looking to cater to this growing demand. The economy is settled, infrastructure is taking shape and most of that region particularly East Africa has a historic link that dates back to 3-5 generations. This helps a lot when you’re an in- ternational company based out of India,” he added. The hotel management company forayed to Tirupati this January with a Premiere property- Marasa Sarovar Premiere and also added Nid- hivan Sarovar Portico, Vrindavan to its portfolio. “Given that we already had a property in Badri- nath (one of the Chaar Dhams) and Shirdi, we are now covering a lot of footwork in religious des- tinations,” said Bakaya. Other hotels that are scheduled to open this year include: Marigold Sarovar Portico, Mashobra Shimla; Crystal Sarovar Premiere, Agra; Goldray Sarovar Portico, Salem; Sarovar Portico, Gand- hidham; Sarovar Portico, Dehradun; Sarovar Por- tico, Trivendrum; and Hometel, Vandalur. Recently, the company has launched its Hindi website be- coming the first hotel com- pany in India to do so. “The idea was to reach out to a larger audience who feels more comfortable using Hindi rather than any other language. The average spend on the website is about 4 minutes and in such short span of time we received close to 400,000 hits,” he in- formed. Talking about the most pro- ductive brand, Bakaya men- tioned that both- Sarovar Premiere and Sarovar Portico have shown high growth for the Company. “Portico allows us flex- ibility to convert existing hotels and sleeve in our hotels and also to grow with reasonable invest- ment. Premiere, on the other hand is growing at the same sort of pace but the base is small so it will always remain more select and pricy,” he said. Portico will continue to grow the fastest among all other brands, said Bakaya as that is where the largest number of hotels of the Com- pany is today and the largest number of hotels will be in time to come. Bakaya said that for the last 2-3 years, the most challenging market for them to operate has been Hyderabad. However, the recent devo- lution of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana has changed the scenario since the last 2-3 months and things are moving in a stable manner. Mumbai has been the strongest and most particular market, followed by Delhi and Gurgaon, he mentioned. Commenting on the future plans, the Executive Director said, “We have lately decided not to continue with our weak- est hotels when it comes to renew and to pick up stronger and more distinguished prop- erties as we go forward. So our portfolio will be richer in terms of profile. In our worst year even, we open at least 6 hotels in a year. We are optimistic to open 10 new ho- tels every year and have at least 95 per cent re- newal on our existing contracts.” Due to the economic sentiment, the last few years have been tough for the hospitality indus- try in the country. Though Sarovar Hotels man- aged to stabilize in this tough operating climate by cutting down on costs and putting in lot of energy conserving measures to optimize the sit- uation. However, the ARR in the last 4-5 years has reduced between 5-7 per cent annually, com- mented Bakaya. Bakaya believes that the real recovery will be seen starting from October onwards as summer is always a drop in India (excluding the hill sta- tions) and expects the rates to grow strong by 8-12 per cent. Wonderlust Bureau The USA based hotel operator Preferred Hotel Group (PHG) moved from a multi-branded busi- ness model to one master brand, Preferred Ho- tels & Resorts. This corporate rebrand represents the company’s commitment to a new consumer- focused approach that is designed to elevate core awareness of the brand, drive strategic growth of its portfolio, and improve market share for its member hotels by making it easier for travelers to identify the singular hospitality experience that meets their needs and life and style preferences for each occasion. Lindsey Ueberroth, President & CEO, Pre- ferred Hotels & Resorts, said, “Driven by evolv- ing consumer expectations and changing travel trends, our new brand architecture creates stronger clarity for the Preferred Hotels & Re- sorts brand within the marketplace and allows us to elevate and focus attention on our world- class collection of independent hotels and re- sorts.” “We are delighted to an- nounce this important mile- stone for Preferred Hotels & Resorts in India. As we commence a significant phase in the brand’s journey to better create outstand- ing luxury travel experi- ences across the world, we are confident that our new collections shall be wel- comed by both our member hotels and discerning Indian clientele,” added Saurabh Rai, Area Managing Direc- tor- South Asia and Middle East, Preferred Hotels & Re- sorts. All of the company’s 650 member hotels and resorts are now represented by the Preferred Hotels & Resorts brand. The new brand strat- egy is further supported by a multi-million dollar invest- ment in updated advertis- ing, marketing, and public relations campaigns that will be introduced over the next several months. The Group further aims to expand its number of member hotels to 45 by the end of 2018 in India, in- formed Rai. “We are looking forward to expand our member hotels in India by 50 per cent by the end of 2018. Currently we are hav- ing a diverse portfolio of 30 member hotels across sig- nificant destinations in India,” he said. Ajay K Bakaya Lindsey Ueberroth and Saurabh Rai at the event 24-hotels_Layout 1 3/31/2015 10:51 PM Page 1
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Transcript of (Mr Bakaya) Wonderlust 24
wonderlustA BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINEAPRIL 2015
hotelsNEWSTRACK
24
SAROVAR HOTELS AND RESORTS EYES EAST AFRICA FOR BUSINESS EXPANSION
PHG REBRANDS TO PREFERRED HOTELS & RESORTS
SEES STRONG GROWTH POTENTIAL IN THAT REGION; TO OPERATE THREE HOTELS IN AFRICA BY 2016
AIMS TO EXPAND ITS NUMBER OF MEMBER HOTELS TO 45 BY THE END OF 2018 IN INDIA
Sulagna Ghosh
Sarovar Hotels & Resorts is planning to bolsterits presence in the region of Africa with the ad-dition of The Zehneria Portico, Nairobi, openingits doors in April 2015. With this, Sarovar Hotelswill be operating two Porticos in Nairobi. TheCompany is also looking at opening a Premiereproperty in Nairobi in the mid of 2016, which willmake it to three hotels in one city and one coun-try. Ajay K Bakaya, Executive Director, SarovarHotels, said that the idea is to expand in Africa,where they see enormous business and growthopportunities. “Africa is a key market where a lotof Indian companies are expanding, and we arelooking to cater to this growing demand. Theeconomy is settled, infrastructure is takingshape and most of that region particularly EastAfrica has a historic link that dates back to 3-5generations. This helps a lot when you’re an in-ternational company based out of India,” headded.The hotel management company forayed to
Tirupati this January with a Premiere property-Marasa Sarovar Premiere and also added Nid-hivan Sarovar Portico, Vrindavan to its portfolio.“Given that we already had a property in Badri-nath (one of the Chaar Dhams) and Shirdi, we arenow covering a lot of footwork in religious des-tinations,” said Bakaya.Other hotels that are scheduled to open this
year include: Marigold Sarovar Portico, MashobraShimla; Crystal Sarovar Premiere, Agra; GoldraySarovar Portico, Salem; Sarovar Portico, Gand-hidham; Sarovar Portico, Dehradun; Sarovar Por-
tico, Trivendrum; and Hometel,Vandalur.Recently, the company has
launched its Hindi website be-coming the first hotel com-pany in India to do so. “Theidea was to reach out to alarger audience who feels morecomfortable using Hindi ratherthan any other language. Theaverage spend on the websiteis about 4 minutes and in suchshort span of time we receivedclose to 400,000 hits,” he in-formed.Talking about the most pro-
ductive brand, Bakaya men-tioned that both- SarovarPremiere and Sarovar Portico have shown highgrowth for the Company. “Portico allows us flex-ibility to convert existing hotels and sleeve in ourhotels and also to grow with reasonable invest-ment. Premiere, on the other hand is growing atthe same sort of pace but the base is small so itwill always remain more select and pricy,” hesaid.Portico will continue to grow the fastest
among all other brands, said Bakaya as that iswhere the largest number of hotels of the Com-pany is today and the largest number of hotelswill be in time to come.Bakaya said that for the last 2-3 years, the
most challenging market for them to operatehas been Hyderabad. However, the recent devo-lution of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana has
changed the scenario since thelast 2-3 months and things aremoving in a stable manner.Mumbai has been thestrongest and most particularmarket, followed by Delhi andGurgaon, he mentioned.Commenting on the future
plans, the Executive Directorsaid, “We have lately decidednot to continue with our weak-est hotels when it comes torenew and to pick up strongerand more distinguished prop-erties as we go forward. So ourportfolio will be richer in termsof profile. In our worst yeareven, we open at least 6 hotels
in a year. We are optimistic to open 10 new ho-tels every year and have at least 95 per cent re-newal on our existing contracts.”Due to the economic sentiment, the last few
years have been tough for the hospitality indus-try in the country. Though Sarovar Hotels man-aged to stabilize in this tough operating climateby cutting down on costs and putting in lot ofenergy conserving measures to optimize the sit-uation. However, the ARR in the last 4-5 yearshas reduced between 5-7 per cent annually, com-mented Bakaya.Bakaya believes that the real recovery will be
seen starting from October onwards as summeris always a drop in India (excluding the hill sta-tions) and expects the rates to grow strong by8-12 per cent.
Wonderlust Bureau
The USA based hotel operator Preferred HotelGroup (PHG) moved from a multi-branded busi-ness model to one master brand, Preferred Ho-tels & Resorts. This corporate rebrand representsthe company’s commitment to a new consumer-focused approach that is designed to elevatecore awareness of the brand, drive strategicgrowth of its portfolio, and improve marketshare for its member hotels by making it easierfor travelers to identify the singular hospitalityexperience that meets their needs and life andstyle preferences for each occasion.Lindsey Ueberroth, President & CEO, Pre-
ferred Hotels & Resorts, said, “Driven by evolv-ing consumer expectations and changing traveltrends, our new brand architecture createsstronger clarity for the Preferred Hotels & Re-sorts brand within the marketplace and allowsus to elevate and focus attention on our world-class collection of independent hotels and re-
sorts.”“We are delighted to an-
nounce this important mile-stone for Preferred Hotels &Resorts in India. As wecommence a significantphase in the brand’s journeyto better create outstand-ing luxury travel experi-ences across the world, weare confident that our newcollections shall be wel-comed by both our memberhotels and discerning Indianclientele,” added SaurabhRai, Area Managing Direc-tor- South Asia and MiddleEast, Preferred Hotels & Re-sorts.All of the company’s 650
member hotels and resortsare now represented by the
Preferred Hotels & Resortsbrand. The new brand strat-egy is further supported bya multi-million dollar invest-ment in updated advertis-ing, marketing, and publicrelations campaigns thatwill be introduced over thenext several months.The Group further aims
to expand its number ofmember hotels to 45 by theend of 2018 in India, in-formed Rai. “We are lookingforward to expand ourmember hotels in India by50 per cent by the end of2018. Currently we are hav-ing a diverse portfolio of 30member hotels across sig-nificant destinations inIndia,” he said.
Ajay K Bakaya
Lindsey Ueberroth and Saurabh Rai at theevent
24-hotels_Layout 1 3/31/2015 10:51 PM Page 1
