Hs august for website final

a cross section publication

Volume 2. Issue 7. August 2013. Rs 50

ALL ABOUT HOTELS & HOSPITALITY

Radisson BLU Plaza Hyderabad

RADISSON BLU PLAZA HYDERABAD Getting it Right!

Western India hospitality industry: 4 big concerns Budget hotels trends with Mohankumar, CEO of Roots Corporation Managing the hotel workforce: The motivation mystery F&B: The menu pricing game

THE BIG HOTEL SALE Industry sees unprecedented activity

editorial

Volume 2 Issue 7 august 2013

editor’s note

Volume 2. Issue 7. August 2013. Rs 50

a cross section publication

ALL ABOUT HOTELS & HOSPITALITY

Radisson BLU Plaza Hyderabad

RADISSON BLU PLAZA HYDERABAD Getting it Right!

Western India hospitality industry: 4 big concerns Budget hotels trends with Mohankumar, CEO of Roots Corporation Managing the hotel workforce: The motivation mystery F&B: The menu pricing game

THE BIG HOTEL SALE Industry sees unprecedented activity

The hotel industry is deemed to become a causality of the slowing economy.

There is a slump in the market and the demand has not kept pace with the supply. With the increasing pressure on profits, many hotel owners are deliberating on what their core business is and are more than willing to make an exit. Read ‘The Big Story’ to know how this trend is settling in and would remain an ongoing feature of hospitality. And if you notice, it also corresponds with a new mindset of the Indian capitalist, which seems to have been imbibed from his western counterpart – selling an asset is no loss of pride!

Flip through further, as we closely observe challenges the hospitality industry is facing in Western India, and zoom into Pune as a vital destination within the region, while speaking about the supply boom and viability of hotels in the city.

We do a Q&A with P.K Mohankumar, MD and CEO, Roots Corporation, whose Ginger Hotels would soon establish itself as a leading budget hotel by becoming a 75 hotel brand by 2017. Our hotelier would be glad to know that while a budget hotel chain has certain inherent challenges of competing with international brands, there is a huge potential for growth in this category.

Uncovering trends, we bring you a variety – on F&B, newer perspectives on what goes into determining the rate tags on the menu, and winning the price game; the most innovative nightly turndown services leading hotels are providing nowadays – for a customary piece of chocolate is simply not enough for today’s guest; and the most effective ways to motivate a hotel workforce.

Bobby Mukherji, Principal Architect and Founder, Bobby Mukherji and Associates, Mumbai, who has bagged some of the most reputed awards such as the IAD award for the best architect of the year, shares a few notes on the importance of the design and material used for hotel flooring.

Don’t forget to go through the ‘Forum of the Month’ where we invite women general managers to talk on how the fairer sex not only takes the challenges of hospitality more positively but also enjoys tackling them along with their personal commitments.

Post the 17th convention of Hotel & Restaurant Association Western India (HRAWI) this month in Pune, we shall be moving on to the 48th annual convention of Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) in Kochi on 19th-21st September. We shall keep you posted.

Editor: Navin S Berry Managing Editor: Priyaanka Berry

Editorial: Anupriya Bishnoi, Nikita Chopra, Varalika Vij Advertising: Saurabh Shukla Design: Ashok Saxena, Neelam Aswani Hotelscapes is published and printed by Navin Berry, printed at Tara Art Printers Pvt. Ltd. A-46-47, Sector - V, Noida - 201301 (U.P.) and published from IIIrd Floor, Rajendra Bhawan, 210, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi - 110002.

Editor: Navin S Berry, Tel: 91-11-43784444; Fax: 91-11-41001627.

E-mail: info@crosssectionmedia.com This issue of Hotelscapes contains 64 pages plus 4 pages cover

readers write in While talking about general managers in the hotel industry, a sad picture of an over worked employee comes in our minds. However, Pavithran Nambiar, GM, JW Marriott Mumbai, came across as a pleasant surprise. His positivity is addictive and is inspiring for hotel management aspirants. The magazine should bring more of such enthusiastic faces to negate the established perspective.

Nimesh Kumar, Mumbai The article on Uttarakhand hotel industry post the calamity which recently struck the state, was an eye opener. Kudos to more of such investigative stories.

Saurabh Chabra, Karnal

August 2013 • hotelscapes 1

August

Contents

28 The Big Story 4 The Big Hotel Sale!

New Developments 6 Ginger’s first smart basic hotel in Noida

7 Courtyard by Marriott announces its 10th property in Pune

8 Berggruen Hotels forays into upscale hotels

10 11

46 Hotel Events 28 A mature one year old: Radisson BLU Plaza Hyderabad Banjara Hills

GM Speak 32 With Marco Saxer, General Revenue Management 34 Why hotel owners should care about Revenue Management

Lemon Tree acquires The Clarion in Whitefield, Bengaluru

24

2 hotelscapes • August 2013

F&B 46 The menu pricing game Design 50 Importance of flooring with Bobby

56

New Launches

58 Awards & Recognition 62 Movements in the Industry

The supply boom and viability of hotels in Pune

Surprising bedtime treats

The motivation mystery

Products 52 Flooring Special

4 big concerns

for growth

Human Resource 42 Managing the hotel workforce:

Mukherji

Hilton Worldwide enters Pune with DoubleTree

Trends 22 Budget hotels have high potential

many roles

Manager, Swissotel Kolkata

Destination Report 12 Western India hospitality industry: 16

Forum of the Month 38 Women GMs successfully balancing

Guest column 36

50

Automated room services for guests by Avinash K Gautam, VP, Silvan Innovation Labs

38 August 2013 • hotelscapes 3

the big story

The Big Hotel Sale!

Is this unique to India? Or, is the story the same elsewhere in the world? What has brought about this position?

Why? And what impact will this have on the industry at large? Are there buyers?

And who are these? Investors from within India or overseas?

Is the hotel industry attracting new investments. On what terms? How are the valuations, compared to a year or two ago? How many hotels are up for sale. Are there buyers and who are these?

T

he hospitality industry seems to be trend driven. We see one trend after another. You see a spate of building, hope and then despair.

We all know that the business is cyclical, but then this recent trend of hotels on sale is a first time for the industry in India. In every city, we know that one hotel or the other is up for sale. This too, shall pass, but perhaps not so easily. This one may stay longer, even get ingrained into our psyche, as a trend that will become an intrinsic part of the business.

Hotels, like in any other business, where mergers and acquisitions are ongoing, will henceforth be always for sale. There would be buyers, and there would be sellers.

Let us look at the issues. Most of all, looking back historically, we had only professional hoteliers running the business.

Going back into the 70s and 80s, we had the Taj, Oberoi and ITDC. These were professionally driven hotel companies, even though one of them was in the government sector. Towards the end of 80s, to be precise, ITC made its entry, but then it too was a big boy, though not a hotelier, to start with. In recent years, we have seen many new entrants, and also the complexity of managing hotels.

T h e s e n e w e n t r a n t s wo u l d h ave

come for different reasons. New found hoteliers, many of them, had land banks, some of them professionally though their businesses, others as part of their family wealth. These were unlocked, so to say, and started as hotels. In many of these cases, the land was a significant asset, considering the cost at which it had been acquired. It made good business sense. In recent years, malls have provided a good source of FAR, and many mall owners converted a part into hotels. In New Delhi alone, witness DLF Place in Saket, Select Citywalk in Saket, and the Leela in Ambience Mall in Gurgaon, for instance.

Real estate developers have turned into hoteliers, some of them for their new found passion for this business. Witness the Bestech Group, that presently run Radisson Hotels in three cities, and have now ventured into 40 new Park Inn hotels with Carlson Group.

There is new diversity of hotel owners.

It is no longer just a business of passion, as it might have been in the old days. Pure business drives them – it is the Q on Q and Y on Y results that steer the fortunes of ownerships across the country.

So there are businesses to be bought, also to be sold. ■

by Navin Berry

Some 60 branded hotels are up for sale!

KB Kachru, Chairman, Carlson Rezidor, South Asia says this trend is not unique to India, it happens all over the world, and more so, when the economy is not doing very well.

Many Asian, European and American cities have gone through this phenomenon. Primarily, it is the slowdown of economic growth that has brought this upon us. Funding and high interest rates force investors to be cautious and look for equity funding /collaboration or exit.

As a result of this impact, projects are likely to get delayed resulting in capital overrun. Kachru believes that there certainly are buyers, both in the domestic and overseas market; however, it depends on a particular group’s strategy.

4 hotelscapes • August 2013

“The valuations have been adversely impacted compared to year or two ago. The sliding of rupee has also attracted interest from international investors. I understand that over 60 branded hotels are in the market. Some foreign investors and equity are looking at them,” says Kachru.

What is the nature of these sales. “Yes, all these are for sale or equity participation,” he says though he would not like to name them as “unfortunately most of them are our direct competition”. He goes on to add that “we are also looking at opportunities with some of our present partners, we are only looking at key locations where we have no presence”, he says.

the big story

This is India’s first cycle of sales across the country The phenomenon is not uncommon overseas, says Rajiv Kaul, president, Leela Hotels. “When supply increases, and demand has not caught up, some churning takes place. This is India’s first cycle of sales across the country. The demand is not there, it is not keeping with the supply”, he says.

He reiterates, that “many of the new owners are developers of real estate. The rate of return on investment is not always what they thought it would be. There is no, or little emotional quotient with hospitality business, per se. The highs and lows in the business will always be there, as in any other business. Hotels, as an asset class, have underperformed as against other real estate classes, purely in terms of ROI. Ten years ago, our performance was amongst the best, and many got lured blindly into the business, while many new players joined the business.”

Kaul goes on to say that the cost of capital today is around 13%, and return merely 6% to 8% from the cash flow of operations. Earlier it was 8% to 10%, besides the appreciation in asset value. He suspects more hotels will be sold in the next two years. Many business houses have had in the past,

“It is a good time for long term investors” Nikhil Manchharam, Vice President Acquisitions & Development, Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels &Resorts

“India is a relatively under hoteled market. The demand for completed hotels with rooms that are ready to sell is high. However, development of new hotels continues to have a lengthy lead time thereby slowing down the supply.

Lenders are looking into loan performances and the pressures continues to be high on borrowers. To add to this, lending continues to be challenging with high interest rate and a volatile inflationary environment. Hotel owners therefore face a crunch in securing and sustaining funding.

In India, the high cost of funds combined with the general economic slowdown makes it difficult for owners to sustain their capital exposure. Hence, we are seeing more and more asset sales that have come to the market. The drivers are not atypical for India and we see this happening in other parts of the world as well.

From a timing perspective, it is a good time for long term investors to explore the opportunities that these asset sales provide and consider investing. If not acquired at a discount, it helps de-risk project risk with the advantage of immediate market entry with a hotel with ready to sell rooms that can provide immediate returns.

Forex can be a gain if funds are offshore. There are some issues with what the seller has to offer with respect to a) title, b) valuation, c) build quality, etc and if an investor is mindful of these, it could be an opportunity for long term investors to explore.”

surplus resources and hotels were always a good place to park their funds.

How are the valuations? These are down to some 25% to 30%, says Kaul. When earnings are down, so would be the valuations. But many are in the race to start the hotel, and if replacement models are considered, then the valuations may be 25% to 30% higher, as costs of construction and land have gone up considerably. Either way, the trend is also to go asset light – hoteliers no longer find it necessary to own the hotel asset, they just wish to run them. IHG has divested in some 3000 hotels across the world in recent times, as part of their strategy. Hotel companies are asking themselves what is their core competency, and the answer they are getting is to run hotels, and not necessarily own them. They would rather own customers rather than real estate.

Talking of the Leela Group, Kaul said they too had adopted the approach of asset light, and it had started to pay dividends. The downturn in hotel rates had affected every hotel, big or small, and everybody was planning new strategies for growth.

“Industry will see more transactions” Achin Khanna, Associate Director, HVS Transaction Advisory Services “Hotels get bought and sold in mature

markets across the globe very frequently.

The I nd ia n hospita l it y s e ct or i s beginning to witness transactions as it matures and moves away from the traditional approach of owning hotel assets for generations. That being said, both global as well as local economic pressures are visible in the fact that while hotel assets are available for sale, not many buyers have emerged yet. Additionally, not all assets in the market are fairly priced and the buyer-seller disconnect with regards to hotel values is another stumbling block.

The industry at large will see more transactions in the months and years ahead. With institutional money and PE funds playing a more active role in this space now, the opportunities to transact will increase. However, it is important to reiterate that unrealistic premiums on potential sales are not likely to be achieved.

There are buyers! However, a majority of the buyers are prudent, sensible and logical in their outlook. Additionally, with money being far more fungible today than it used to be even a decade ago, these buyers are not just choosing between assets in India, but assets across the globe.

Hotels are valued on their potential to generate future cash flow. As increase in room night demand continues to keep pace with increase in supply and as more and more money comes from the structured space, valuations are likely to be more realistic going forward”.

August 2013 • hotelscapes 5

new developments

Ginger’s first Smart Basic Hotel in Noida

L–R : P.K. Mohan Kumar lighting the lamp at the Ginger Noida Launch along with Dr Pritender Singh, SSP Noida; Rama Raman, IAS Chairman & CEO NOIDA

Adding up to a total of 28 hotels, Ginger launches its first property in Noida.

6 hotelscapes • August 2013

G

inger Hotels from Roots Corporation launched its first hotel in Noida, Ginger Hotel Noida Sector 63. It is based on the concept of Smart Basics and represents smart services at affordable rates. This 83 room hotel is easily accessible from Indira Gandhi International Airport as well as Anand Vihar and New Delhi railway station. Speaking on the occasion, P.K Mohankumar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Roots Corporation Ltd, said, “We are glad to come up with our debut property in Noida. This place being visited by a huge number of business travellers, we very well fit in the space. At this hotel, we have made sure that the travellers are served with easy and hassle free facilities.”

“Ginger Hotels are very well spread in southern and western regions, and we are also receiving great response in North India. With the improving connectivity of metro and national highways, one will see more activity in the hospitality sector here

and the new Ginger Hotel will meet the needs of travellers visiting the NCR region,” he further added.

The hotel is equipped with special features like a Smart spaceTM, self check-in, gymnasium, etc. In all, the hotel ensures a comfortable and pleasant stay for its guests.

All the rooms are well furnished with facilities such as, a mini-fridge, LCD television, selfcontrolled air conditioner, tea and coffee maker and a telephone.

Ginger is targeting guests travelling towards the existing set-ups of multinational IT outsourcing firms such as IBM, Miracle, Fujitsu, TCS, WIPRO, HCL, Tech Mahindra, Adobe, Ericsson, DELL etc.

Helping the modern business traveller to stay connected, Ginger offers complimentary Wi-Fi to all resident guests. With this new launch, Ginger now has 28 hotels across India and is planning to launch soon in Jaipur, Amritsar and Chandigarh too. ■

by Nikita chopra

New Developments

Courtyard by Marriott announces its 10th property in Pune aiming at business travellers

S

cheduled to open in the end of August, Courtyard by Marriott, Pune – Chakan is designed with the intention of providing business travellers with modern and essential comforts which include spacious rooms, lively dining options, high speed internet, a health centre and more.

With 175 rooms including 12 residence suites, the only star hotel at the Chakan industrial belt, the hotel features a total of 11710 sq. ft. meeting space including four meeting rooms. Ritu Chawla, General Manager, CYM, Pune Chakan adds, “The hotel promises to offer unpretentious luxury and charm, integrating the best in technology, comfort and the illustrious Marriott service and culture.” The dining options include the signature Marriott brand, MoMo Café and MoMo to Go and a 24hr room service.

The hotel is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED – certified by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to ensure a positive environmental footprint. ■

August 2013 • hotelscapes 7

New developments

Berggruen Hotels forays into upscale hotels With the launch of ‘Keys Klub’, Berggruen Hotels announces entry in the 4 and 5 star category.

Sanjay Sethi Managing Director and CEO, Berggruen Hotels

We plan to add at least 2 Keys Klub Hotels into our bouquet every year in our target cities at Pune, Mumbai, NCR, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Jaipur, Kolkata and Hyderabad.

8 hotelscapes • August 2013

A

iming to target the aff luent business traveller, Berggruen Hotels, the parent brand of Keys Hotels announces entry in the upscale hotel category. Currently Berggruen Hotels has 14 hotels in operations, 6 of which are owned by the company and an additional 21 hotels under various stages of development. They have an impressive line up of opening 6 hotels in the next 8 months; a hotel every 5 weeks. On the occasion, Sanjay Sethi, Managing Director and CEO, Berggruen Hotels commented that, “This move is in the direction of turning Berggruen Hotels into a holistic hotel company catering to all categories of customers. Adding a new brand to our basket will help us grow faster and ensure that we have a strong presence across key potential hospitality segments.”

The new upmarket brand ‘Keys Klub’ is described to be stylish, cheerful, international and cutting

edge. The brand aims to speak to the contemporary and modern traveller and focus on providing personalized service within a viable price range.

In comparison to Keys Hotels, the new Keys Klub hotels will feature additional amenities such as a swimming pool, Club lounge, spa (optional) and 24/7 room service. Each property will have more than 100 rooms with room size of 275 sq ft upwards and a Klub floor.

Sanjay Sethi elaborates, “Our strategies will ensure that by 2016, we expand to 75 hotels with an inventory of 6600 rooms. We plan to add at least 2 Keys Klub Hotels into our bouquet every year in our target cities at Pune, Mumbai, Delhi/ NCR, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Jaipur, Kolkata and Hyderabad. By 2016, we are expecting combined revenue of INR 410Crs from the owned and managed hotels. We have kept the luxury space available for future brand expansion”. ■

Drawer MiniBar

New standards in convenience

Phone : +91-11-41679640 / 40910000, Cell: 9810302264 E-Mail : ajay@eagle-grp.com, ajaykhannadelhi@hotmail.com Correspondence : C-71, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase - I, New Delhi - 110020, INDIA

new developments

Lemon Tree acquires The Clarion in Whitefield, Bengaluru

Patu Keswani Chairman & Managing Director, The Lemon Tree Hotel

This acquisition will help us to gain a foothold in the growing Micro Market of Whitefield. The hotel is centrally located within Whitefield and will offer a great option for mid-market guests.

[

L

emon Tree Hotels announced the acquisition of the erstwhile 130 room Clarion Hotel in Whitefield, Bengaluru. Fleur Hotels, the JV partnership between Lemon Tree Hotels and Dutch pension fund manager APG acquired the hotel in an all cash deal for Rs. 64 crores. Another Rs. 11 crores is proposed to be spent on renovating the hotel and rebranding it as the Lemon Tree Hotel, Whitefield, Bengaluru.

Over the next 6 months they intend to renovate and refurbish the hotel to align it to the Lemon Tree brand standards of a fresh, fun and refreshingly different hotel. Changes will include upgradation of the rooms to the Lemon Tree standard of contemporary, clean designs along with the use of bright colours, planting of refreshing greens

around the hotel and getting Lemon Tree’s signature installed around the hotel i.e. stained-glass hangings in the lobby, Bastar tribal art in the lobby and in corridors and specially curated paintings around the hotel. With regards to F&B, the property will feature the signature Citrus Café, the 24x7 multicuisine coffee shop and a Slounge, a recreation bar.

The brand will also work on the construction and completion of the balance 52 rooms.

Speaking on the occasion Patu Keswani, Chairman & Managing Director, The Lemon Tree Hotel Company said, “This acquisition will help us to gain a foothold in the growing Micro Market of Whitefield. The hotel is centrally located within Whitefield and will offer a great option for midmarket guests”. ■

Over the next 6 months they intend to renovate and refurbish the hotel to align it to the Lemon Tree brand standards of a fresh, fun and refreshingly different hotel.

10 hotelscapes • August 2013

new developments

Hilton Worldwide enters Pune with DoubleTree

H

[

ilton Worldwide announced the launch of DoubleTree by Hilton Pune – Chinchwad, the first international hotel brand to open in Pimpri – Chinchwad. Located in the heart of Pune’s information technology and industrial belt, the 115-room property boasts of upscale accommodations and amenities and offers easy access to the Pune Airport, the Mumbai-Pune National and Express Highways and the Pune city centre.

Hotel amenities include a 24-hour Precor fitness centre, outdoor pool and a spa. The hotel also offers a range of dining venues – 3 Spices, the all-day restaurant; the soon-to-open Miyuki, which will offer authentic Japanese cuisine; the Linear lounge and bar featuring handpicked malts and innovative cocktails; and Level 12, a roof-top poolside lounge.

Guests can indulge in delicious cakes and pastries at Tarta, the hotel’s onsite bakery.

Well suited for meetings and social gatherings, the property offers seven flexible meetings rooms, totaling more than 2,600 square feet.

“We are delighted to deliver DoubleTree by Hilton’s signature service culture built around the idea of CARE – Creating a Rewarding Experience – for guests, team members and the community,” said Sahdev Mehta, General Manager, DoubleTree by Hilton Pune – Chinchwad. “This starts with the warm chocolate chip cookie presented to each guest upon arrival.”

Additional signature brand offerings include the Wake Up DoubleTree BreakfastTM, gourmet in-room tea and coffee and a refreshing array of CITRON body care products by Crabtree & Evelyn. ■

the 115-room property boasts of upscale accommodations and amenities and offers easy access to the Pune Airport, the Mumbai-Pune National and Express Highways and the Pune city centre.

August 2013 • hotelscapes 11

Destination report

Western India hospitality: the 4 big concerns While preparing to attend the 17th Regional Convention of the Hotel & Restaurant Association Western India (HRAWI) in Pune, the Hotelscapes team talks to a few notable members of this 63 year old union about the challenges affecting the hospitality industry of the region.

T

he said association with around 1300 members across Western India, covering Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa and the Union territories of Daman, Diu & Sivassa is essentially considered to be the voice of the hotel industry.

We use this voice effectively to address the following issues.

Licensing matters D. S . A d v a n i , P r e s i d e n t , HRAWI and Vice President, FHRAI tells us that licensing is a daunting issue for hotel i ndust r y i n We st er n I nd ia.

“While all the states within the western Indian region have their own set of licensing challenges, Ma ha ra sht ra i n pa r t ic u la r needs in excess of 100 licensing permissions to just get the hotel started. After this, there are innumerable and unnecessary authorizations needed for day to day operations. While Gujarat is a dry state and is hence exempted from the headache of liquor licenses, hotels in Maharashtra have to take a daily liquor license for every event they do, making it practically impossible to throw parties at the last minute. Then again, there are some decade old archaic laws which haven’t been addressed till date. For example, the lodging establishments in the olden days had to close at 11 pm, a law that needs to be discontinued now immediately.”

12 hotelscapes • August 2013

D.S. Advani

President, HRAWI and Vice President, FHRAI

While Gujarat is a dry state and is hence exempted from the headache of liquor licenses, hotels in Maharashtra have to take a daily liquor license for every event they do, making it practically impossible to throw parties at the last minute. Then again, there are some decade old archaic laws which haven’t been addressed till date.

Kamlesh Barot, Director - VIE Hospitality, Immediate Past President - FHRAI (Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India) and HRAWI (Hotel & Restaurant Association - Western India) says, “The police licenses/ registration certificates have to be renewed annually, the Christmas and New Year functions are an annual affair, yet there is no blanket sanction till the eve of the event day, and the permission is given the last minute. Also, multiple clearances are required to be obtained from various authorities, despite being licensed premises for banquets, wedding and events. At present, a hotel has to take more than one license under the state excise for various locations within the same premises.”

SP Jain, Ex-officio member, HRAWI and Vice Chairman – Best Western The Pride Hotel, Pune, comments, “Few units in the western region are facing tremendous licensing challenges.

It a time consuming concern.

While a hotel or restaurant is ready to function after spending a lot of money, the final licenses take about 6 months to a year.”

Key solutions – SP Jain suggests “single window clearance” as the ultimate way out of this hitch. According to him, it is expected that this season will be better since the foreign companies are more than invited

Kamlesh Barot

Director – VIE Hospitality, Immediate Past President – FHRAI and HRAWI

The police licenses/ registration certificates have to be renewed annually, the Christmas and New Year functions are an annual affair, yet there is no blanket sanction till the eve of the event day, and the permission is given the last minute.

destination report

[

All the licenses should be given for longer periods (at least for 5 years) to restrict the repeated annual visits. The permissions for the international special annual event days should be given permanently, amendable in an emergency situation. The impediment of multiple clearances should be done away with, and the state excise departments should issue one consolidates license for the whole establishment. for direct investments and the clearances are being given more easily. Kamlesh Barot lays down simplifying procedures – “All the licenses should be given for longer periods (at least for 5 years) to restrict the repeated annual visits. The permissions for the international special annual event days should be given permanently, amendable in an emergency situation. The impediment of multiple clearances should be done away with, and the state excise departments should issue one consolidates license for the whole establishment.”

SP Jain

Ex-officio member, HRAWI and Vice Chairman – Best Western The Pride Hotel, Pune

The occupancy and Average Daily Room Rate (ADR) is adversely affected, making the hotels take cost cutting initiatives on a huge level. The hotels should ideally be taking incentives for longer stays. Facilities like extra meals and free access to the spa encourages the guests.

Oversupply of hotel rooms A j ay Cho r d i a , E xe c ut ive Committee Member, HRAWI and Managing Director, Panchshil Hotels Ltd. lists the most commonly cited obstacle as oversupply. According to him, “…it has outpaced steady gains in demand and discouraged the hotel performance in recent years.” Arun Nayar, Executive Director, The Pride Hotels Ltd and Managing Committee Member, Pune Hoteliers Association agrees - “A sudden flow of big hotel players in parts like Pune has saturated the growth in the industry at the moment. The global economy is not at its best. While 70%-75% of our clientele is domestic, foreigners who are here for long term businesses, prefer to stay in

Ajay Chordia Executive Committee Member, HRAWI and Managing Director, Panchshil Hotels Ltd.

Over supply has outpaced steady gains in demand and discouraged the hotel performance in recent years. Also, lack of skilled manpower is another vital issue which can be addressed by having better quality hotel management and culinary schools in the region.

apartments rather than hotels…

However, Western India is a very dynamic region and things will stabilize once the economy perks up, especially in Europe, since all the business travel influx is from there.” SP Jain confirms economic slowdown in the western world as a big setback for the demand graph. “The occupancy and Average Daily Room Rate (ADR) is adversely affected, making the hotels take cost cutting initiatives on a huge level.”

DS Advani, on the other hand, presents a counter view. “India entirely received 6.6 million tourists last year, while cities like Shanghai and Dubai received 27 million and 10 million tourists respectively. Now to tell you, Las Vegas (a city) has more rooms than the India as a whole. When a foreign city is capable of receiving more tourists than an entire country like India, we certainly need to attract more tourists and have a huge supply of rooms. So an oversupply is not as alarming as we are making it up tp be.

Instead, it can be taken constructively.”

Key solutions – “The hotels should ideally be taking incentives for longer stays. Facilities like extra meals and free access to the spa encourages the guests,” suggests SP Jain. Arun Nayar says, “A hotel entrepreneur looking forward to set up a new property should first study the emerging trends. Also, people have become price sensitive and are very clear about how much and where they have to spend.

Therefore, it’s always best to be clear about the segment of clientele one must be addressing to.

Now if one sets a 5 star in a 3 star requirement region, the losses are inevitable.”

Taxes and costs “A two year old amendment to the existing Bombay Entertainment Duty Act 1923 lays an

August 2013 • hotelscapes 13

destination report Barot. He further adds, “We are continuously trying to communicate with the Government of Maharashtra about this highly exorbitant and unreasonable amendment.”

D.S. Advani says, “Talking about the western region, the entertainment tax in Maharashtra is the highest.

Since this charge has been levied, live entertainment in Mumbai has become minimal and almost 800 musicians have lost their jobs. It’s surprising that while, on one hand, the Indian government wants to make Mumbai like Shanghai, they are avoiding such boi l i ng concer ns. We should take an example from cities like Dubai who host 6 concerts in a month.”

To give more examples, he says, “In Madhya Pradesh, luxury tax appl ie s t o lau nd r y a nd telephone services also, which is absurd.”

S P Ja i n a l s o t a l k s about elect r icit y a nd Arun Nayar fuel charges. “Diesel and Executive Director, The petrol charges, as well Pride Hotels Ltd and as power consumption Managing Committee is increasing day by day.

Member, Pune In hotels, central air conHoteliers Association ditioning doesn’t permit agrees controlling of costs.”

Key solutions – “The Most of those Minister, Depa rtment passing out of hotel of Revenue should inmanagement schools t e r ve n e s o t h a t t h i s defraying amendment are dispersing to other i s w i t h d r aw n i n t h e industries. Since the interest of tourism in skilled employees are Maharashtra,” opines so less, hotel chains Kamlesh Barot. He reckeep poaching each ommends that this will others best personnel. “project Maharashtra as a tourist hub at interThis leads to bad national forums” and attrition rates. help in the “survival and growth of this capital

entertainment duty on live performances / live orchestra conducted in the permit Rooms, beer bars, pubs and all such places where liquor is served. Charges/duties sho ck i n g ly ra n ge f r om : Rs.50, 000/- per month for permit room s, beer Ba rs with live orchestra; Rs.1.00 lac per month for pubs situated at a place other than the 5-star hotels; Rs.2.50 lacs per month for pubs in 5-star hotels,” says Kamlesh

14 hotelscapes • August 2013

and labour intensive hotel and restaurant industry”. SP Jain further guides the hotels to incorporate simple cost cutting measures like having an AC control system and changing halogen lights to LED lights.”

Lack of skilled manpower Out of all the problems discussed, the lack of skilled ma npower was on ever y hoteliers mind. Arun Nayar states, “Finding capable manpower has become such a challenge for the hotel industry because most of those passing out of hotel management schools are dispersing to other industries. Since the skilled employees are so less, most of the hotel chains keep poaching each others best personnel. This leads to bad attrition rates.” “Long working hours and no quick money t u r n s of f to day’s graduates from joining the hotel industry,” says D.S. Advani.

Key solutions – SP Jain instructs that the hotels in western India should catch the trainees coming out of colleges and give them training.

He mentions that Pride Hotels presently keeps more than 100 trainees for its different hotels. D.S Advani suggests his ways to resolve this matter. “ While better training is surely a good idea, the younger generation should be educated about the long term careers that can be built in the hotel industry, for once the hotel industry comes in your blood, it never leaves.”

Ajay Chordia adds that another way to address this issue is by having better quality hotel management and culinary schools in the region. ■ by varalika vij

destination report: Pune

Destination Pune

The supply boom and viability of hotels The hoteliers in Pune narrated practically similar yet interesting stories as we asked them about the trends, evolution of clientele over the years, growth potential of hospitality, biggest challenges and rewards of setting up a hotel in the city. Though the hotel industry in Pune is facing an oversupply at the moment as many international players are looking at opening up their properties, the picture still looks promising for the hotel investors. Read on to know how the cultural capital of Maharashtra is gathering its hospitality wits to draw business progressively.

When hospitality became the next big thing Pune, in the last 15 years has amplified its hospitality potential in the luxury segment from 300 rooms to 6000 rooms, thanks to the tremendous rise in the IT and

Sanjay Singh General Manager, Radisson Blu Pune Kharadi

The eastern corridor has around 2357 rooms and the western corridor has 2852 rooms. While the western corridor’s growth is going to remain the same, the eastern will have 500 rooms newly added by 2014.

16 hotelscapes • August 2013

automobile trade. The European giants found potential to set up their base in the city, making it a global auto hub and in turn giving a huge impetus to the hotel industry. Sanjay Singh, General Manager, Radisson Blu Pune Kharadi, shares the

perspective of how the industry has grown in the recent years.

“While hotels like Blue Diamond and Pride Hotel, which opened in the early 90’s had a comfortable space in the city, major players started entering with Le Meridien coming in the picture. Even then,

Destination report: pune

Sujeet Kumar General Manager, The Westin Pune Koregaon Park

from 1975 to almost 1995, there were hardly 300 qualified rooms in the Pune market. The Average Room Rate (ARR) in the early 90’s was Rs. 1000 – Rs. 1500 per room in a five star category.

Thereafter, Pune after 1995 suddenly picked up on the IT and automobile segment, because of the government subsidiaries a n nou nc e d i n t he c it y. S o companies li ke Vol kswagen and Mercedes Benz came in, bringing in a lot of business from the German market. These two factors actually gave a big boom to the hotel industry and other industries like real estate. The current supply in the market is 6000 rooms, excluding the unbranded apartments.”

Sanjay remembers that at the same time, Lufthansa Airlines started their flights in Pune, started from a couple of days in a week to more. “The airline had initiated a regular to and fro air travel

and all the seats were business class. The fare from Frankfurt to Pune was almost 1000 dollars more than the fare in the average market, and still, the flights used to be full all the time. So one can imagine the number of visitors and expats we received. That was the time, somewhere around year 2000, when the hotel business picked up. Hotels like Taj and Le Meridien started having an ARR of Rs. 15,000 per night and occupancy was more than 100 %!”

Oversupply, a blessing in disguise While the increased demand of inbound travel surely called for an enhanced supply of rooms, it is noted that a sudden rush of chain hotels has caused a tempora r y sat u ration. Th is stag na ncy, together w ith a weak global economic state has caused a downward trend in the average room rates. Sujeet

Kumar, General Manager, The Westin Pune Koregaon Park has the following perspective – “The market has grown by 150% on room supply in the last 5 years with all international brands and likes of Starwood, Hyat t, Ma r r iot t a nd ot hers seeing the city as an opportunity to serve the increased demand.

Today, Pune has over 10 and more international hospitality brands, whereas up till 2008 there were only two luxury hotels.” Kumar predicts that the coming 3 years shall see an added supply of over 1000 rooms in the current inventory of luxury and upper scale segment in the city.”

“Pune is currently divided into two distinct parts, which was not the case earlier. We now have an eastern corridor and a western corridor. The eastern corridor, as per my information, has around 2357 rooms and the western cor-

Today, Pune has over 10 and more international hospitality brands, whereas up till 2008 there were only two luxury hotels.

The coming 3 years shall see an added supply of over 1000 rooms in the current inventory of luxury and upper scale segment.

ridor has 2852 rooms. While the western corridor’s growth is going to remain the same, the eastern will have 500 rooms newly added by 2014,” says Sanjay.

Sujeet, however, also sees a challenge accompanying this boom in the supply. “ With added demand, came added supply of rooms and one of the biggest hurdles today in Pune is to successfully command the right rate for the hospitality product in offering. With the client having the luxury of choice, the competitive scenario is stiffer in the city resulting in

August 2013 • hotelscapes 17

Destination report: pune

Jatin Khanna General Manager, JW Marriott Pune

With respect to average rates, we anticipate that our hotel will be able to maintain their rates whereas hotels located in the peripheral locations such as Nagar Road, Hinjewadi and Pimpri will witness a decline due to pressure from oversupply of rooms in the short term.

a rate war in order to keep their occupancies steady.” Speaking about his own hotel, he added, “The Westin Pune Koregaon Park has, however, adopted a customer centric strategy in order to compete with other hotels on quality and not get into a rate war.”

Jatin K hanna, General Manager, JW Marriott Pune, agrees, “Because of the over supply, growth rate which was supposed to go to peak levels, hadn’t really gone up. Over 60% of the proposed supply is planned in the mid market and budget segments. “On an opti-

18 hotelscapes • August 2013

mistic note, he says, “As the growth in supply moderates, we expect occupancy levels to continue showing improvement.

With respect to average rates, we anticipate that our hotel will be able to maintain their rates whereas hotels located in the peripheral locations such as Nagar Road, Hinjewadi and Pimpri will witness a decline due to pressure from oversupply of rooms in the short term.”

Mohammad Labban, General Manager, Hyatt Regency Pune, says, “At present, supply of 4,691 rooms is available in Pune and an additional 5,545 rooms are proposed to be developed in the next five years with most major international hotel brands such as Starwood, Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt and Accor already have a growing presence in and around the city. However, occupancy in Pune witnessed a negative growth of 11% and ARR

went down to Rs. 4,827 from Rs. 7,948 (a record high ARR that happened in the year 2007). This is moreover because of the inproportionate balance between the existing demand and the increasing current supply in the market. However, taking into consideration the futuristic development of the international airport and with it the increase in international transit, long term benefits for the hotel industry look brighter.”

Hinting further on the negatives of this trend, he comments, “The i ndust r y conti nues to lack the pricing power to drive out of the current stagnancy with the globally weak macroeconomic scenario sapping the industry’s ability to sustain inflation adjusted ADR in the short term. An oversupply of rooms in Pune’s hotel market is forcing promoters to either scrap the projects or shift to smaller ones

to stay in business. Major players have scrapped their projects for the time being. With this, it is extremely important for us to sustain people friendly atmosphere where guest expectations are met or rather exceeded. The business in the city being very volatile, it is too early to comment if it’s actually affecting our bottom line.”

The moving trends A. Seasonal guest inflow: Gopan Krishnan, Director Sales and Marketing, Le Meridien Pune informs, “Typically, the peak time for guests’ inflow is from the third week of September till about the first or second week of December. Having said that, although the second week of April to mid September is on a low, it is also a very good time for social events.”

Mohammad Labban affirms, “Pune being the third largest IT

Destination report: pune

Mohammad Labban

General Manager, Hyatt Regency Pune

hub in the country, the clientele is purely corporate. However, the city does experience a downfall during monsoon as the MICE industry prefers leisure destinations.”

B. Food & Beverage: “The city is experiencing a makeover from an ex-serviceman’s image to a more modern and urbanized place. The food & beverage industry has also evolved and come a long way.

Due to globalization the palate of the city has changed from conventional Indian /Asian food to global cuisine. Exotic bars, innovative cocktails and chic lounges are the current hit amongst the youth of the city, “says Mohammad Labban.

Sanjay Singh adds, “Talking about F&B, it’s more about the location of the hotel in the Pune city. My hotel is a little bit away from the city, and so, the events here are more corporate than social. Lunches are busier in terms of revenue than dinner. But this

might not be true for a hotel lying in the heart of the city. Pune is renowned for festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali, Shravan, Dusshera. So I’ve seen that the consumption of alcoholic beverages and non vegetarian food items is less during this time. So we have to be extremely careful as to when we are launching the food festival.

According to Gopan Krishnan, “In the last 2-3 years, new 5 star deluxe hotels have opened in Pune and they have tried to create a distinct identity with their speciality restaurants.

For example, we have Favola, a traditional Italian restaurant, and Chingari, a rustic north Indian rooftop restaurant. Italian, Indian and Spanish food rules on the menu here. There is hardly any Chinese on the 5 star deluxe hotel menu here.” Gopan Krishnan believes that stand alone restaurants are a bigger

threat to the hotel F&B. Talking further on the subject, he comments, “Social media has become a very big driving force, especially for the food and beverage segment. We have guest loyalty programs like SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest program). We also have a special F&B dining program called the EDM (EAT, DRINK AND MORE). These are all major online activities, where we do not put any advertisements or do any other sort of advertising. This reaches out to a lot of people and they use our restaurant through these two tools.”

JW Marriott opened eight food and beverage outlets serving a wide variety of cuisines to give the guests a complete dining experience, with destination outlets like Paasha - the roof-top lounge, and Shakahari - which is a celebration of ‘vegetarianism’. “In today’s world of ‘healthy living’, innovation and variety are

An oversupply of rooms in Pune’s hotel market is forcing promoters to either scrap the projects or shift to smaller ones to stay in business.

The business in the city being very volatile, it is too early to comment if it’s actually affecting our bottom line.

two most important factors in setting trend and attracting customers. The trend is also about ‘guest engagement’. Our chefs interact with guests to know their li kes and disli kes better. With organic food gaining heavy importance, an interactive live kitchen gives the guests a chance to know and understand culinary on a different level altogether,” says Jatin Khanna.

The city guest: more corporate than social We gathered that Pune has close to no business in the leisure segment. “Most of the hotels here

August 2013 • hotelscapes 19

Destination report: pune

Gopan Krishnan

Director Sales and Marketing, Le Meridien Pune

In the last 3-4 years, a major and welcome change has been the growth in MICE. And this has happened only because of the brand new hotels that have come up with huge and cheap conferencing facilities and excellent domestic connectivity.

get 80% - 85% of their business from the corporates. To add a point, Pune has also become a major place to host weddings. In the next five years, if the hotels present a good example, we can become a Lucknow or Indore as a wedding destination,” says Sanjay Singh.

“Even when the market is hitting a low, the companies put a restrain on the international and domestic travel. However, engineering companies keep up with residential conferences as against IT, BPO and KPO’s, giving Pune hotels a lot of opportunity. Gener-

20 hotelscapes • August 2013

ally around 60 %- 65 % business originates within India or Pune, and around 20% to 25 % business comes from the European markets. The remaining comes from US, China and Singapore. If you notice, American giants like John Deer and other have their manufacturing units in Pune,” he adds.

Moha m mad Labba n concurs, “Pune being considered a preferred destination for meetings, incentives, conference & exhibitions (MICE), has a silver lining in the existing turbulent economic conditions in the hotel industry. With segments like IT, automobiles, pharmaceutical growth in the outskirts of Pune converting into industrial hubs, there is a significant growth expected in the business traveller numbers in the coming years.”

Gopan K rish na n asserts, “Pune was, is and will be a transient corporate business traveller

city. We are not a leisure destination; we do not even host any major sporting event. In the last 3-4 years, a major and welcome change has been the growth in MICE. And this has happened only because of the brand new hotels that have come up with huge and cheap conferencing facilities and excellent domestic connectivity. One can organize a good residential conference in Pune at a package of Rs. 6,500 for a double room.”

Sujeet Kumar gives his opinion – “Pune in the previous years was known for OSHO Ashram attracting great leisure business as well as saw expat movement owning to many international automobile giants making the city its manufacturing hub. The clientele has evolved over a period of time with over 80% of the city inbound travel today being more corporate travel centric. With the addition of international luxury hotels

offering over 200 – 500 rooms under one roof, Pune city today is on India’s map as a very lucrative destination for conferencing and group movements.”

“With the growth of Indian economy as against the international lands, many NRI’s are finding it beneficial to return to base. Pune is already one of the top 5 cities with the largest expatriate community in India owning to the Auto and IT/IT’es MNC’s making the city its base,” he comments further.

Challenges Jat i n K ha n na not e s t he absence of an international airport as the bottleneck in connectivity and the biggest challenge in accessibility for travellers. Gopan Krishnan brings to the notice that “… as one way travel from Mumbai takes 6 hours, it becomes bothersome for a convenience-

Destination report: pune

[

The key challenges that the industry faces today are infrastructure, availability of product bouquet, rising inflation, intercultural differences and the biggest amongst them is the shortage of skilled manpower.

Pune Hotels Room Average Daily Ratio of Breakdown

occupancy Room Rate Guest Bookings of guests

(ADR) (in percentage)

The increase in Gross Operating profit Per Available Room (GOPPAR) from last year

August August August August Direct Routed Domestic vs. Leisure vs.

2013 2012 in Rs. in Rs. reservations through Foreigners business portals travellers Hyatt Regency

56%

38%

5,480

5,917

69%

31%

53%: 47%

5%: 95%

317%

Radisson Blu Kharadi

63%

74%

NA

NA

76%

24%

65%: 35%

5%: 95%

NA

Le Meridien

56% 56% 6,200 6,200 28%

72% 60%:40% 15%:75%

NA

JW Marriott

65% 51% 6,000 5,700 40%

60% 55%:45% 10%:90%

33%

The Westin Koregaon Park

Pune Hotel updates

Hyatt Regency Pune has recently opened Hyatt Regency Pune Residences to cater to the needs of business entrepreneurs in the city who are there to establish their firms and wish to stay for long term. They are the first hotel to have an exhibition center in the city which has been recently launched. Also, Ista Hotels have been taken over by Hyatt International and its Pune property has been rebranded as Hyatt Pune. By the fourth quarter of this year, Hyatt Place Hinjewadi will also be operational.

JW Marriott Pune will be launching Courtyard Chakan, which will be opening soon.

NA

NA

loving traveller to reach Pune.”

Says Sanjay Singh, “Pune is still considered as a tier 2 city, with just one airport. The moment we will have a bigger international airport, I’m sure there will be bigger investors in the city, which can support the hotels. Right now there is too much competition over supply of the rooms, which is actually reducing the return on investments.”

Mohammad Labban gives additional views - “The key challenges that the industry faces today are infrastructure, availability of product bouquet, rising inflation, intercultural differences and the biggest amongst them is the shortage of skilled manpower. With the addition of new hospitality products and attrition to other service industries such as retail, banking, insurance, travel, the demand gap is only widening. The challenge further aggravates with the industry looking for trained manpower as opposed to the untrained manpower. The demand

NA

NA

is so high that each student passing out of a quality hotel management institute is offered a job by 5-6 hotel companies, besides other service sectors looking for the similar trained manpower. The payroll and compensation are increasing for such trained manpower.”

To invest or not to invest?

Speaking of rewards, Jatin Khanna is of the view that this is the best time to set up a hotel in the Pune market, keeping in mind the year on year growth. On the other hand, Gopan Krishnan says, “For a hotel entrepreneur, Pune is still evolving. There are 3-5 pockets within Pune which are growing. You don’t have to open a five star deluxe hotel. Even if one invests in a 3 star, there is scope in some pockets which are still developing.”

Suj e e t Ku m a r r e m a rk s , “Interestingly while the city Average Daily Room Rate (ADR) has taken a slight hit, the city ave ra ge o c c up a nc ie s have

NA

consistently grown above the last year ,which is a bright picture indeed. When the hotel entrepreneur always sees a decent absorption rate in the city, it is encouraging Mohammad Labban adds a point, “The city is developing swiftly and making its presence felt globa l ly, as one of the metropolitan cities in India.

However, when compared to other established cosmopolitans, the real estate market has not reached its whooping high. With the increasing global inflation in the infrastructure segment, this is a profitable deal for a hotel entrepreneur.”

“Hospitality Industry shall definitely grow further in the coming years in the city.

With Mumbai bursting from its seams, Pune already has become the preferred city for many corporates shifting their base. This owes to more attractive rates as well as relaxed industry policies,” concludes Sujeet Kumar. ■

by Varalika vij

August 2013 • hotelscapes 21

trends

Budget Hotels have High Potential for Growth

With the budget sector being under-served, there is a huge potential for growth in this sector. Ginger Hotels, a leading budget hotel brand in India, plans to become a 75 hotel brand by 2017. We speak with P.K. Mohankumar, CEO and MD, Roots Corporation about the inherent challenges of competing with international brands and the unbranded sector in the budget category and also understand their cost effective and consumer friendly business model.

What are the current trends in budget hotels in India?

If we talk about the branded sector, then the budget hotels in India are broadly underserved.

The branded sector has huge scope of growth. We only have 8,000 rooms out of the demand for 50,000. There is a big opportunity for capacity build up and that is why we are seeing a rush of international and domestic brands into the sector. Building capacity for corporate travellers is necessary. In India, a corporate traveller wants to come back to the room, sit back and relax while watching television or having a beer. The entire corporate world is depending on outsourcing, we at Ginger also outsource most of our services, from food, to security, engineering, architecture, etc. this helps us in getting best services and saves cost too which we can further pass on to our customers.

How is supply and demand shaping up in this sector?

How is that affecting the rates?

Average Room Rate (ARR) of a hotel is a function of the market

22 hotelscapes • August 2013

dynamics of that location. Giving an example, I would say, for the same capacity, same quality of brand, Ginger hotel in Mahakali in Andheri fetches a higher premium of Rs. 2,800 per room, yet it is 80% occupied. Whereas, in Mangalore, Karnataka, the same Ginger brand, the same capacity gets only Rs. 1,500 at 68% occupancy. This is because these are two different markets with different dynamics. As the budget hotels’ market is underserved, so there is a lot of scope and opportunity‌ In metro cities, we will command much higher ARRs and occupancy unlike premium or luxury or mid market where they might get a higher ARR but may not get the higher occupancy rate. Whereas, we stand at an advantage of getting both, higher occupancy and higher ARRs. And as we go on to tier 1 and tier 2 cities, ARRs will come down but the occupancy continues to be higher.

How sound is Return on Investment in budget category vs. luxury?

India is a mass market. It has high potential for absorbing budget hotels a nd the bu l k

Trends of Indian travellers travel in the mid-market space and the budget space. Therefore, there is a lot of opportunity in terms of profitable growth existing in mid-market and budget space rather than the luxury sector.

There are a sizeable number of corporate travellers in India who also cater to luxury hotels but the majority prefer staying in the budget hotels.

How is Ginger as an Indian brand competing with international brands like, Mercure, Ibis, etc?

Trailing back to the hospitality i ndust r y i n I nd ia, we have centuries old history; India has always been an expert in hospitality. Atithi Devo Bhava is an ancient saying and it clearly denotes that hospitality is in our blood. As an industry it is 60-75 years old, then it is considered as an economic sector. Mainly, this sector has grown primarily depending on overseas visitors or high-end Indian travellers to cater to luxury sector.

In the budget segment, we started around 7 years ago, so we have a competitive advantage, we are pioneering and have learnt our lessons quickly in comparison to the international brands. So we are well equipped to take on these brands coming in to India and we also have design inputs from international designers and many inputs from a global perspective, whether it is the design, the architecture, the service or the software standards. Any aspect that we consider is not only satisfying with the best-in-class in India, we are benchmarking with the best-in-class in the world. But what they bring in is deep pockets. There is a cost of entry. So they are willing to up their products and come up with something slightly superior to the Ginger and play in the same space. We believe that we have

a strategic advantage of already operating in 27 locations, best locations in the country, we are widespread. And being a local player, we know the game and l i kel i hood of a loca l player investing with a Taj brand in comparison to Hyatt is higher.

What we don’t have, are the loyalty programmes that these global brands come up with, but a lot of people coming from western countries are keen on experimenting the Indian brands, because of our local expertise.

Budget hotels are no frill hotels, how much have you cut down on the frills?

This being a new segment, a new space in India, we conducted a huge research on this emerging profile. The travellers staying at budget hotels have clea r priorities. First and foremost t hey wa nt t e ch nolog y a nd speed. They want the checkin and check-out processes to be as fast as possible, they are willing to help themselves and they want un-obtrusive services.

We designed the whole product and services on the basis of selfhelp, so we introduced a trolley, we are looking at kiosks, and self help in the kitchen. Now we are also planning to come up with a smart TV which will help the travellers to check out on their own. Adding on, he can operate with us on mobile too.

The budget segment requires having a lot of co-creating with the customer, they value this the most. For them, today it is all about productivity.

we can build a 100 room hotel per key is because we have frozen the prototype. What we are doing is enhancements mostly in soft skills, soft touches, soft design.

Enhancements keep happening.

How serious is the unbranded competition for you? How are you dealing with it?

Well it is competition, it is a part of whole eco-system and since the last 60 years they are the ones who have captured the kind of traveller who is so comfortable in knowing the people. They are not subject to a lot of regulatory measures. They don’t have proper manpower and also come up with lots of u neth ica l sta nda rds. There are many challenges on the r eg u lat or y a sp e c t s, i f t hey are made to play in the same rigorous standards in which the corporate entities play, then they will find it very difficult.

A whole lot of family concerns are now planning to bite into these lease rentals, management concerns because with this they will still retain the ownership and they don’t have to do any work and they will be managed by the company they trust. We ourselves are inviting these family run hotels to join hands with us. In today’s scenario, you can generate business only if you are hooked on to a powerful reservation system. If you do not have talent to run the hotels in the way it is supposed to be run, you are not going to survive.

How modular are Ginger hotels?

Tell us something about the growth plans of Ginger?

The model of Ginger Hotels is scalable and replicable… it is a prototype. So, the entire architecture is modular and replicable. That is where the cost comes in, cost effectiveness comes out of the factor, and in 18 lakhs

We have been in existence since last seven years and have grown up to 28 hotels all across India.

In the next three years we are planning to double up to around 80 hotels. We are planning to achieve this by lease rentals and

management contracts. Once that happens, automatically a lot of investors, a thousand of family run hotels, which are investors, unbranded, they would like to tie up with a company which is backed by the TATA group, because of the trust and accountability. That is how we are going to scale up. We are going to sign up lot many more management contracts, lease rentals of existing bombshells.

By end of 16-17 fiscal year we are aiming to become at least a 75 hotel brand.

Currently, we are prominently in south and in the western markets, and we are also fairly spread in north. We are now looking at North-East in a big way and we are also expanding in the five metro cities.

How are you marketing Ginger and how are you inviting customers?

We are now going to the new age marketing of hotel brands, which will all happen in the digital space. There we are the technology leader already as we have the support of TCS. So we are looking at actually going in a big way for digital marketing, increasing our website bookings, GDRs, and we are also looking at how electronic marketing can be driven to bring in brand awareness, equity and process.

The 60-70% of our guests book directly through the system, so that is the trend. And now price points are also very attractive, ou r ma rket i ng depa r t ment rolls a lot of bundle packages, we e k e nd r at e s . We h ave a revenue management central system that drives all our rates for next couple of months and try and attract the bag-packers as well as the CEOs and also the holiday makers, so I think Ginger is a very attractive brand for every segment of the trade. ■ as told to Nikita chopra

August 2013 • hotelscapes 23

trends

Surprising bedtime treats

Turning in for the night is a routine activity at most of the hotels, many of which mark the moment with a customary piece of chocolate placed on the pillow during the nightly turndown service. This tradition, however, may soon be passÊ as more and more hotels are offering extraordinary innovative turndown services. Here’s a look at four such luxury hotels that love surprising its guests before they retire for the night.

24 hotelscapes • August 2013

trends

Taj Falaknuma Palace Hyderabad

Girish Sehgal General Manager

Creating a soothing space – The rooms are serviced completely while cleaning the used area in the room and all the supplies are replenished. Bed is given turndown with a goodnight mat on the floor, moisturizer put on the silver tray in a silver dabbi, blinds and curtains are drawn, lighting is set in the room, considering the evening ambience. There is placement of a different and exotic F&B every night.

As per the guest preferences: We do personalise the turndown

Girish Sehgal General Manager, Taj Falaknuma Palace Hyderabad

A religious guest may get a photograph of their deity with the holy book, Muslim guests get a prayer mat, Quran and Qiblah in the room, personalized photographs and framed memories are also placed.

service. For a honeymoon couple, bed is made with satin sheets; scented candles are lit at the bathtub area. There might even be a heart shaped cake! For our regular guests, we put a variety of bath salts and body oil in mandala pottery trays, with rose petals/ jasmine flowers. Also, the most important thing is that we notice their preference in the rooms and act accordingly. For example, if we come to know that the guest likes jasmine flowers, we keep the bowl of it next to the bed. Moreover, we have choice of baths (ittar, milk and foam bath) to be drawn as per the guest preference. For children, we might decorate the room with balloons, confetti etc. For corporate and business groups, F&B amenity may be personalized with the company logo.

While the kids additionally get even i ng good ies l i ke marshmallows, lollipops, health drink etc., single lady travellers get a Nawab-e-khaas facial treatment made fresh every day. We take special care of our Japanese guests as they get a traditional tea set up before they go to bed. On similar lines, VIP guests get a ‘Mother’s recipe’ special tea arrangement.

Blending traditions with creativity: We can get very creative with our turndown services. Team members are given all the charge to go out of their way to create special moments in the rooms. A religious guest may get a photograph of their deity with the holy book, Muslim guests get a prayer mat, Quran and Qiblah in the room, personalized photographs and framed memories are also placed. Then again, we do extensive rangoli on the floors.

Luscious delights: Its not just chocolates, we ca n get you hazelnut f lans, Caramel and chocolate dusted Macademia nuts, macaroons, Jordanian dates, Single origin chocolates and more.

Guests who cherished it all: There are many special memories

related to our turndow n services. A hotelier guest was given a special turndown with a photographic collage that traced his travels from his hotel in Europe to India. A corporate g uest who was m issi ng h is children received a photograph and ‘Miss you’ card from his children upon his return from work. Another guest who was an avid painter returned to find a canvas & paints for him to collect his memories along with an F&B amenity that had paint brush and colours! Once, we noticed that our guest’s little son was very fond of his drawing book…so we made it attractive by covering it with a nice handmade paper and kept it at the side of his bed.

We observe our guests to the minutest detail. For example, a gentleman was using one pillow at his foot side. We arranged the bed accordingly the next night, as he found a pillow delicately kept in a setting of his preference.

Fairmont Jaipur

Kanchan Mahtani Director Rooms Wishing sweetdreams: Talking about the things we do most generally as our nightly turn down service, Fairmont ‘Gold Rooms’ always have a special greeting wishing “sweet dreams”. This is set up late in the evening for them to unwind and end the day with a sweet note. We tailor our offerings for each guest according to their preferences. One of our unique turndown services include the creative art of using towels which are placed in the form of a cute animal on the guest’s bed.

Personal touch: Personalisation is always our key focus. For a couple celebrating their special occasion, we decorate the floor with flower rangoli and set up a romantic bath in their rooms. For kids, customise the towel art and add in something they enjoy – it can be a glass of milk with cook-

Garima Nagpal

Executive Housekeeper The Imperial New Delhi

A recently introduced feature is a ‘Do not forget card’ to remind the guest of small chores he may need to do before retiring, like ‘call home’, ‘reconfirm flight’, ‘get the suit pressed’ etc.

ies or some chocolates. More often than not, the turndown service depends on the purpose of the guest’s visit, whether it be a holiday with family or a corporate meeting.

Sweet treats: We can set up a sweet treat to cater to any tooth, from home made chocolates to unique designs resembling chocolate jewellery, specially crafted by our Pastry Chef Lloyd De. A valued bedtime story: I remember the instance when there was a lady staying with us, who was away from her family for two weeks. At turndown, we placed a photo frame with a picture of her kids in it. She was so overwhelmed and touched by this

August 2013 • hotelscapes 25

trends gesture that she could not hold on to her tears.

The Imperial New Delhi

Garima Nagpal Executive Housekeeper Following the norms: When the room is ‘turned down’ for the night, it does not mean just turning the corner of the bed for easy access into the bed but also includes putting the pillows down instead of the day setup of being upright on the bed, slippers being placed on a white mat so one can slip ones feet straight into them when they get out of the bed. The blinds and curtains are closed to create a warm and cozy feel and

Kanchan Mahtani

Director Rooms, Fairmont Jaipur

I remember the instance when there was a lady staying with us, who was away from her family for two weeks. At turndown, we placed a photo frame with a picture of her kids in it.

26 hotelscapes • August 2013

to shut out the morning glare and mood lighting is created. A good night oil is placed in a diffuser to create a soothing fragrance.

Inventive souvenirs: We offer this and much more – A full tray with all the paraphernalia the guest might need once in bed, such as a laundry bag or slips, breakfast cards, is placed close at hand, a bucket of ice to have a late dinner drink, a pillow menu to chose the kind of pillow, whether down, feather, hard or contour. We even have weather card which gives the weather of the next day so the guest can plan accordingly. A recently introduced feature is a ‘Do not forget card’ to remind the guest of small chores he may need to do before retiring, like ‘call home’, ‘reconfirm flight’ , ‘get the suit pressed’ etc. Lastly, we place a linen recycle card to encourage guest to reuse linen and save water.

Romantic surprise: We had this booking which came in for a couple‘s golden wedding anniversary.

While they had booked a romantic dinner, we decided to create a special effect in their room. We wrote to the daughter to send us a photo of the actual wedding which was enlarged and framed in a cardboard and placed on the coffee table. Their names were embroidered on the pillow cases in gold and a set of napkins was also engraved with their initials in a golden heart. A small book of marriage quotes was placed on the bed along with the usual turndown. They were thrilled with all of this and now are regular visitors on their visits to India.

The Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi Satyajeet Krishnan General Manager

Thoughtful of the slightest details: The Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi provides for special turndown evening services un-

obtrusively. Welcome amenities like pralines, chocolate molds, chocolate shel ls etc ca n be arranged. Also, macrons, homemade honeybee cookies, prunes, candid fruits like dry pineapple, dry mango, dry litchi, etc can be placed as special amenities.

There are regular services like preparing the bed and putting a goodnight message, straightening the items of the guest, rearranging the toiletries. But these are all done in a special manner – like, all guest items are displayed on an organdy mat neatly with rose petals, placing of guest personal flowers in flower vases, coin box for guests coins/currency, placing of shoe mat under guest shoes, putting glass and water next to medicines, jewellery tray for guest jewelry, clipping of guest chargers or other electrical wires with wire manager, and more.

We place single lady gown, cotton wool jar and flowers in all single lady rooms.

Special turndown – There have been some special evening services introduced according to a certain nature of guests.

• Stress reliever/ tranquil sleep/ lip balm introduced for product enhancement, are placed as per guest profile/ preference tracking during turndown. • Honeymoon Tu rndow n – A bubble bath along with some petals, candles illuminated in colourful votives and a rose bath salt completes the honeymoon turndown experience.

• Eco Card - Eco card has been introduced in all guest rooms to provide guests an option to reuse the room linen as a step to save environment. This is placed in the plain view of the guest at the time of turndown service.

Compassion in service: As a step towards ‘sensitivity’, there is a considerable emphasis given to profile collection especially on the following: Pillow preference – Bed is made as per the usage of number of pillows on guest’s

Satyajeet Krishnan

General Manager The Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi

A book mark is placed in the books read by the guest. Also we can arrange for books as per the guest liking as part of our “WOW” service. sleeping side. Sleeping side – Water bottle etc are placed on the side where guest sleeps. Linen usage- In case the guest is using more towels, we place extra towels. Toiletry usage- Any extra toiletry used by the guest is placed.

Reader – A book mark is placed in the books read by the guest.

Also we can arrange for books as per the guest liking as part of our “WOW” service. Remembrances – Our F&B turndowns are the most creative and unique. For example – we did a special desert turndown for the CNN television guests with their logo on the dessert. Also, for Air Asia airline guests, there was a special desert turndown with AIR ASIA written on the dessert together with a dummy toy plane. ■

by Varalika vij

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hotel events

A mature one year old: Radisson BLU Plaza Hyderabad Banjara Hills tells a story of a successful partnership between owners and management, in keeping with the overall brand philosophy.

Radisson BLU Plaza Hyderabad has recently completed its first year in business and is celebrating the occasion by launching its very innovative One Year Young Campaign.

28 hotelscapes • August 2013

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he hotel began its jou r ney on Ju ly 01, 2012 in a market which had a presence of many i nter nationa l a nd domestic brands existing from a long time, each with its own strong loyalty base. Being the first Radisson BLU Plaza Hotel in Southern India, in a most excellent location such as the Banjara Hills, right in the city centre of Hyderabad, it was away from the noise and amidst green surroundings, which added

significantly to its positioning among target segments .

“We wanted to carve out a reputation high on service delivery, as an F&B destination and a complete meeting and conference location from small to mid-size groups. We carried a great expectation from owners and the brand to bring in a true international flavour to the hospitality business at Hyderabad”, says Nishan Silva, the general manager who has

led his team with maturity and direction.

“To deliver a quality like this is always a challenge as it deals with a lot of team work and commitment. Our objective has been to create a memorable experience by providing high guest satisfaction with our ‘Yes I Can’ service philosophy and 100% guest satisfaction guarantee which anchors the stay of our loyal customers in comparison to our competitors”, he adds, happy

hotel events

About the owners and their belief in Radisson Blu brand

B

S Sahney (BSS ) is the Chairman and runs this business along with his daughter Jasmine Pillai, who is the Executive Director.

Sahney has four daughters and all are successful entrepreneurs in their field of work. The hotel used to be the house of the owners for twenty years till the owners decided to convert the land into a hotel.

Hotelscapes interviewed BSS and following are the highlights.

Our one single question to them was to understand how they chose Carlson? Has their vision materialised?

“When we decided to open a hotel in Hyderabad, we were looking for rapidly growing international chains and Carlson Rezidor was one among the fastest growing chains at that point. Believing in the potential of the group, we tied up to open this first ‘Plaza’ Hotel in Hyderabad”, said Jasmine Pillai, Executive Director.

“We have been in this city for over the last 35 years and it feels great when our friends call up and congratulate us for the excellent quality of food, service, ambience and most importantly hospitality – and most importantly the ‘Yes I Can’ attitude of the hotel team. This gives us – as the owners – a lot of pride. I am sure that coming times will only strengthen our positioning in Hyderabad.” said BS Sahney, Chairman.

in the achievements so far, and fully conscious of the challenges ahead.

The hot el ha s bel ieve d in developing strong lasting relationships with their guests, e mploye e s a nd ow ne r sh ip.

Today, on completion of a year, the team is saying proudly that they have been successful in nurturing business relationships

by entrusting a mutual value proposition and shall continue to grow upon this stable foundation.

“To us, hospitality is more than a business, it’s a state of m i nd, somethi ng we live and experience every day. At Radisson Blu Plaza, we build our business with one relationship at a time, connected to our customers, partners and each

other, in the spirit of service and caring”, says Nishan Silva.

Banjara Hills is one of the poshest residential and commercial areas of Hyderabad.

Overlooking the valleys of Banjara Hills, the hotel provides the most tranquil and serene surroundings that make it a resort style ambience.

The property is in 2.5 acres

KB Kachru is proud of the team achievements

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n line with Carlson Rezidor ambition 2015, to be a leading brand in our segment, it was always important for us to work with a great partner to launch a hotel in Hyderabad, a hotel which can and will truly compete with all global brands (in our segment) in the city. When I met BS Sahney and his family for the first time, their expectation too was to develop a hotel with true international standards and be the best in class.

Carlson Rezidor is the number one International chain in India by the number of properties. We have the expertise, operational back up and a strong team to support the vision of the ownership. Today, I am delighted to say that the hotel is one of the most recognised in the city, it has won many awards and is continuously improving its profitability and is appropriately positioned in the market place.

We are proud of our team and grateful to the ownership for their support to achieve our overall objectives.

with 155 rooms, an atrium lobby of 19.5 mts, 2 Food and Beverage outlets which includes Chill – 24 hours restaurant, Holy Basil serving Thai, Chinese & Japanese delicacies, a Lobby Bar. Movida is the Lounge and Bar with special Club nights and Tapas food, lobby bar and Dilmah T Bar, 2 banquet halls, four meeting rooms and an exclusive business class lounge on 5th f loor. For leisure, the hotel provides a fully equipped gymnasium, outdoor swimming pool and a newly launched Serena Spa. Being a traveller himself and a big foodie, Sahney, the guiding spirit and owner, always wanted to create a truly International p r o duc t . H i s a m bit ion ha s matured into bringing to the city a stylish and modern product, incomparable services and a true international hotel experience.

After a lot of due diligence they decided to tie up with Carlson Rezidor, the hotel chain with largest number of hotels in India. “ T h e p h i l o s o p hy o f t h e hotel has been to imbibe family culture and values. In this,

August 2013 • hotelscapes 29

hotel events

“CSR and keeping the flock happy, motivated and productive”: Nishan Silva Nishan Silva General Manager, Radisson Blu plaza Hyderabad

For us, it’s all about living day in and out the mantra of our brand “Make your mark, Make it yours, Make it happen and Make it together.

30 hotelscapes • August 2013

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oing forward to create a truly driven team and bring forward Carlson values and culture, we truly believe in Employee Value Proposition, which is all about encouraging the employee to make his mark and to live his dreams. At our hotel, this is lived like a journey where we recruit the right fit for us, followed by developing and nurturing him, creatively backed up with empowerment and inducing a sense of individualism and enterprising spirit to his personality .

For us, it’s all about living day in and out the mantra of our brand “Make your mark, Make it yours, Make it happen and Make it together.”

With a dream to creating Radisson BLU Plaza Hyderabad a destination to work, we created several avenues and innovative offerings to make our employees empowered and connected to each other. To name a few: World Class Training facility – First ever in Hyderabad, on the lines of top It companies like Google.. The training facility has a wide range of activities like table tennis, basketball, mini cricket, fussball, skate boards and many board games like ‘Life’, scrabble, chess, sukodo etc. We work on the Carlson Concept of ‘Work, Relax and Enjoy’.

BLU Connect Council, is our initiative to retain the diverse talent by encouraging innovation, empowering, accountability, customer focus and integrity. The council comprises of 15 members chaired by a mentor and monitored by champions for guests, team, responsible business and sustainability drives of the hotel.

BLU Connect Day, with an objective to meet and greet our employees, this is a day of celebrating success by rewarding internal talents while having an open discussion with teams. The teams get rewarded with awards like Best Employee of the Month, Heart of House and Front of The House along with Bravo certifications.

CSR initiatives, We trust that what you do is who you are. Living up to the brand’s initiatives towards Responsible Business, Radisson BLU Plaza Hyderabad took up several city and state related projects that were aimed toward betterment of the society. To name a few: l An Initiative with NICE Foundation to save Children at Risk – A handpicked team represented the BLU Connect Council and took a six day expedition to the tribal areas of state with an objective to educate the tribal families about the health related complications, the team mobilized the masses to the health camp and promoted health seeking behavior The programme is directed at improving the health of women and infants by providing antenatal care, safe delivery, postnatal care and child care. l A n A id s Wa l kat hon w it h t he DESIRE Foundation along with HIV affected kids l Adoption of the 22 children orphanage named Cheers Foundation by regularly looking after the development of the kids and regular interaction of BLU team with the kids . l One Life at a time – Employment opportunities for the underprivileged and physically challenged To celebrate the One Year completion with the team, the hotel is organizing special dedicated weeks for individual departments. This celebration will conclude with a gala evening for the employees where the hotel will be inviting their families followed by special annual awards and recognitions for the teams.

Our growth creates jobs and opportunities, At Carlson, we believe in nurturing talent and empowering employees to do the right thing for our customers, our communities and the planet we all share. Entrepreneurial by heritage, ambitious by nature, employees at Radisson BLU are driven to lead with integrity, responsibility and creativity.

hotel events

Awards & Recognition

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Innovating and creating new concepts

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he hotel was launched with the brand promise of being a vibrant, contemporary and engaging hospitality, the objective was to make the hotel a preferred F&B destination in the city by launching innovative F&B concepts that the city has never seen. Social Media and Digital marketing was taken up as one of the new age marketing tools at the Hotel.

These include: Launch of first Dilmah Tea Bar in India and eighth in the world at Radisson Blu Plaza, offering 31 single origin teas from Sri Lanka and India. Also serving a variety of tea based beverages and an innovative tea gastronomy. This unique outlet itself generated tremendous visibility and media attention.

Another innovative offering was the launch of Sunday Brunch called as “Families Go Blu”. At one price, guests can enjoy 300 dishes from Indian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Western, Grills, Indian Chaats, unlimited soft and alcoholic beverages from 12pm to 4pm. 40 chefs come together here and guests can enjoy the ambience of all food & beverage outlets, they can enjoy anywhere and everywhere.

The hotel also introduced an exclusive “BLU KIDS CLUB” for kids every Sundays. Children can play, watch movies, magic shows, tattoo and nail art and many more activities. Going forward, the hotel is taking the club to the next level by creating an opportunity for kids to become members and enjoy special discount for their parents as well.

We introduced “Get Stylish” a ladies kitty party club. Introduced as a free membership, a passport was issued to members and benefits offered on visiting the hotel. The program has been a success with more than 100 kitty groups as member of the club today.

Upcoming concepts include the launch “Radisson Blu Wine Experience”, rewarding the wine connoisseurs and wine lovers in the city.

By September, the hotel would be launching the Radisson Blu Plaza online application where guests can download the app and get up to date with the new F&B activities at the hotel along with option of having a live chat with the Executive Chef.

Social Media Engagement has been taken up in a focussed approach by the hotel, and the property has achieved 3000 likes within 3 months of launch which is a milestone in itself.

n one year of operation, the hotel got seven prominent awards. l Best Five Star New Entrepreneur Award by Indian Hospitality Awards 2013 l Deluxe Hotel of the Year 2012- 2013 by Golden Star Awards l Master Chef of the Year for International Cuisine 2012- 2013 by Golden Star Awards l Best New Sunday Brunch – by Times Food Awards, 2012 -2013 by TOI l Best Preferred Sunday Brunch – by Zomato Food Guide l Best New Business Hotel of 2012 – by Hospitality India Magazine, New Delhi l Rising Star of the Year 2012 – Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, Asia Pacific l HR Leader of the Year 2012 – Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, Asia Pacific l Best Professional for Public Relations 2012 – Young Communicators Forum of India

what sta nds out foremost is that unique touch of being hospitable where we understand that our business is to bring smiles, where we treat our guests like our own family. Many long staying guests are being treated with special and extra care, our chefs personally take care of their food requirements and preferences. We host regular c o ck t a i l s, c elebrat e t hei r and hotel’s special occasions by i nv it i ng them,” sha res Sahney in a moment of true satisfaction and pride.

In Radisson BLU Hotels, F&B is a key revenue stream and this hotel is no different.

F&B contributes a significant por tion, d riven by rooms, socia l events a nd M IC E business. On an average, the hotel entertains 12,000 guests every month which is set to grow by 20-25% next year and speaks volumes of the manner in which the city of Hyderabad has welcomed the experience provided by the hotel.

When Ni sha n ca me on

board as the general manager, his brief was very simple and clear – to make this property a truly modern, contemporary hotel. He was meant to drive all the Carlson Values in the hotel. He was meant to create a unique guest experience and create products which become benchmarks in the city.

T r u ly i n l i ne w it h t he o w n e r s a n d t h e b r a n d ’s aspiration, Nishan created one of the most driven team of people who also shared his belief in creating a unique product and experience.

Being a managed hotel, Nishan never deviated from the dream of the owners and the brand and always aligned strategies which were core to the making of this hotel. A humble service, yet sharp and focussed. Team members have often been sent on domestic and International training and assignments to understand and recreate an International experience in the hotel. ■ based on interviews by Priyaanka Berry

August 2013 • hotelscapes 31

Gm Speak

Executive Focus with Marco Saxer, Swissotel When a man like Marco Saxer, General Manager, Swissotel Kolkata, with management skills of over two decades, talks about the ways to build up a premium hotel, aspiring general managers take notice. Beginning a career that had to go a long way with Carlton Hotel Singapore, he went on to serve the Amari Atrium Hotel, Bangkok and Mövenpick, Kuwait as a General Manager. His strong vision and focus is now benefitting Swissotel Kolkata.

What makes a good hotel manager?

Passion! A hotel manager needs to be passionate towards his guests, his team members and his hotel. Also, he needs to have a vision for the hotel to steer it forward in this vast ocean of competition. He must be able to motivate the heads of other departments to implement the vision of the hotel. A great characteristic of a leader is to create the vision and inspire others to believe in it. Without these leaders, we would be spinning in a hamster wheel with no real objective.

Then again, he should be detail oriented. He should have focus and be detailed in all efforts so as to be able to guide and coach every department head through his vast experience and knowledge about the entire hotel. On the whole, a hotel manager’s work is to ensure lodging establishments run efficiently and profitably. Ensure standards are met for guest service, and participate in financial activities such as the setting of room rates and general accounting activities.

You need not be an expert in human psychology to be a successful hotel operator or manager, but you need to understand the wants of your hotel guests. It is vital to be on the leading edge of technology and use all the different tools at your disposal to attract new and repeat visitors to your property.

How can a hotel manager keep up with the latest trends in hospitality industry?

Trends in the hospitality industry do not cultivate in a day, a week, or a month. They usually begin slowly and then gain popularity. Hotel owners and operators who identify such long-term trends usually benefit the most. Heads of departments keep up with the latest trends in the industry by attending trade shows, commissioning surveys and listening to feedback from their guests. Analysis from industry insiders, based on enormous amounts of research, give us the major trends.

The future for the hotel industry looks bright in 2013. Hotels must pay attention to the preferences and habits of travellers so they can tailor their properties accordingly. Those hotels that create aggressive marketing campaigns and increase their focus on customer service, will do the best in 2013 and beyond.

32 hotelscapes • August 2013

GM speak What techniques and ideas can make a hotel property attractive to the guests and improve their financial numbers?

There are a few points to ponder upon to improve the guest inflow, thereby improving the financial numbers: • Meet ing the ex pectat ion of you r guests: The market is divided into a number of different segments based on both price and the type of property. In order to be most competitive, it is imperative to understand your market. Hotels that go above and beyond guest expectations will score points and help encourage repeat customers.

• Getting guests to book through the hotel’s website: Hotels are now listed with the online travel and hotel sites which have increased the occupancy rates. The trend in the hotel industry is definitely moving toward getting more online bookings through the hotel’s own website.

• Blending social media with mobile devices: Social media is picking up even in Bengal. In order to benefit from this very real trend, marketing plans must be aimed at mobile device users.

• Appealing to international travellers: Hotels that can go the extra mile to make visitors from certain countries or areas of the world feel more at home will quickly develop a reputation as a good place to stay and definitely flourish.

• Identify challenges and fix them quickly: Have a regular checklist of small maintenance issues and make sure that someone attends to them promptly.

• Room design: Trends are emerging in room design. Today’s guests are more into health and physical fitness.

• Food: Healthy, nutritious and vitality food, is another important trend in the hotel industry which helps in keeping the body mind and soul at ease.

• Creative video presentations: Creating flashy videos that present the best features of the hotel is good. Engaging real guests and getting them to share their thoughts or personal experiences is more convincing.

• Harness technology to improve operations: Successful hotels adopt new technologies for the purpose of information, promotions, bookings and reservations, and general management-control systems. Technical innovations can ease the business process and increase hassle-free experiences for the customers.

• Employees do not want be workaholics:

Employees today are looking for a better lifework balance, and employers are responding with more flexible work environments. Issues like family and lifestyle are playing a more important role, even at the early stages of one’s career. Retention of talented employees is now a matter of concern, especially when competition is high.

Could you give us an insight on your day?

The general rule in India is to work six days a week. My day starts early in the morning beginning with a walk throughout the hotel property, just to make sure that everything is running smoothly before the majority of guests start flocking in. I then check the buffet lay so that my guests can enjoy a hearty breakfast.

Next, I need to scan through the important correspondence and prepare for the morning brief with the heads of several departments.

Similarly, before and after every meal period, I visit the restaurants to ensure that the buffet is ready and well presented for guests. During meals I meet and greet guests to get their genuine feedback, giving us room to improve on our standards further.

Attending meetings with F&B, sales and marketing, housekeeping and even the finance department, to know the strength and weakness so as to adopt better strategies, is another part of my day to day work.

Best time of the day for you?

The best time of the day is before 9 o’ clock in the morning and after 6 o’ clock in the evening.

What would you say is your work style?

Work hard now for an easier tomorrow and change with the change in times is my mantra.

Having had a stint with renowned brands across Europe, Middle East and Asia, and now being appointed as the General Manager at Swissotel, could you describe your professional growth and learning curve?

Having being around and seeing a lot of the three continents, it seems quite exciting and challenging to be appointed as the General Manager at Swissotel Kolkata. As the organization is going through a growth phase, I too learn and grow professionally. My team has been able to keep ahead of the changes and growth. My team and I have spent a lot of time understanding what the future require-

ments are for the hotel. I am experiencing the importance of working closely with the owners and ensuring to follow their vision for the hotel so that we could be recognized as one of the premium hotels in Kolkata and India. It takes hard work and long hours to make things look the way they do.

How is it trickier to have a hotel in Kolkata than in other parts of the nation? And also what are the advantages?

Challenges lie everywhere. Competition is stiff.

But with a stimulating product and excellent team,daily work becomes exciting and easy to handle. Kolkata may be slower than Mumbai and Delhi but at the end, it is important that we reach our targets and adopt a continual improvement attitude, which will take us forward and help us reach our goal.

What is your vision of hospitality for Swissotel Kolkata?

My vision for Swissotel Kolkata is to continue seeing it as one of the premium corporate hotels in Kolkata. The overall vision speaks of • A hotel committed to offer to its guests, exceptional and personalized service always exceeding expectations, treating and greeting guests with humility, discretion, respect and a positive attitude.

• A hotel committed and responsive to its stakeholders.

• A hotel committed to the environment, using vitality products, recycling items and adopting waste management.

• A hotel committed to meet the financial targets and contributing to better profitability while keeping the ethics in mind and being in compliance with the legislation and regulations of the country.

• A hot el hav i n g mu lt i- sk i l le d t e a m members, who take pride of ownership and transforming the vision of the hotel to reality.

What have been your initiatives your capacity as GM of Swissotel Kolkata?

Initiatives taken are plenty. Worth mentioning the following: • Highlighting our Swiss guidelines.

• Increase business in terms of rooms and F&B. • Adopting the cost control measures without compromising on quality.

• Making sure ISO certification is invested in the team. ■ by varalika vij

August 2013 • hotelscapes 33

revenue management

Why hotel owners should care about Revenue Management In the current competitive hotel climate in India, the importance of revenue management and its ability to impact a hotel’s performance is continually expanding.

Joseph Martino, Senior Vice President at IDeaS shares with us the growing importance for Revenue Management.

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apid technology advancements and a growing number of booking channels are leading to revenue management becoming an increasingly important tool in maximizing revenue from hotel guests, in periods of both high and low demand. So it’s not surprising that this science is gaining greater attention from those who have the biggest vested interest in a hotel’s performance – its owners.

The high flow-through of additional revenue directly impacts bottom line results, making it a key tool in increasing a hotel’s valuation. It’s therefore in an owner’s best interests to ensure management is leading the way when it comes to revenue management, so optimum value can be extracted from their asset. This increased value will have a number of flow-on benefits for owners, including a greater ability to service debt, obtain higher loans, or re-invest funds into other business ventures, and keep investors happy.

In mature markets, savvy hotel owners and investors are realizing the importance of revenue management and its ability to positively influence the bottom line.

Many are actively seeking to cooperate more closely with revenue management departments to ensure their

hotel’s value is continually enhanced over its lifetime.

We are mainly seeing this increased realization coming from owners with multi-brand portfolios. Yet, many hoteliers still aren’t realizing the full benefits of revenue management and the level of understanding varies greatly across regions. In many emerging markets and in some parts of India, revenue management is still viewed of as an additional cost, rather than as a strategic tool for increasing returns.

While owners don’t need to get down into the dayto-day micro operations of a hotel, it is important that they play a role in setting the overall goals and direction for the hotel. It may be the owner’s intention to create a long-term profit generator, or an investment company diversifying their portfolio. If the hotel is a newly opened asset, an owner’s objective could be to realize a quick return on investment by selling the asset after just a few years of successful operations. These differences in goals need to be shared with the revenue management department and worked into the hotel’s overall strategy, to help reach these objectives.

Stay ahead of the market with a proactive approach Accurate forecasting is at the essence of a successful revenue management strategy. It allows a hotel to take proactive instead of reactive actions, in response

34 hotelscapes • August 2013

revenue management

Joseph Martino

Senior VP, IDeaS

Beyond setting an optimal price, revenue management can also be used within a hotel’s systems and processes to establish a solid foundation for optimizing revenue and moving towards market-leading RevPAR performance.

to changes in market conditions. For example, in times of a downturn in demand, many hoteliers put in place strategies such as blanket promotions and slash rates, while management waits and hopes the reduced rates will drive sufficient demand to make up for the gap. Often price wars are created in this situation, which can damage a hotel’s ability to increase its price in the future. Many hoteliers don’t think about what happens if they make a price change and the competitor makes a price change too – everyone will be at the same place as before, however everyone will have lost out on revenue. For the sake of long-term revenue optimization, a measured and strategic approach is needed, rather than a rushed and panicked reaction that can make everyone worse off.

During a low demand period, it is better for a hotel to use strategic pricing, and maintain its positioning within the market. Strategic pricing requires an understanding of price sensitivity of demand, in other words how much demand will rise when prices are reduced, or vice versa. This can be determined through effective revenue management practices, and allow a hotel to see how price changes impact demand from different segments. This powerful knowledge will allow a hotel to react much more quickly to market changes, and also put in place different strategies for different target markets.

For example, instead of putting in place reactive blanket promotions, a much more strategic approach would be to target specific promotions to specific market segments that will be most responsive to them.

If demand is accurately forecasted from each segment, hoteliers can begin to make better decisions about which customer should receive that last available room, who should be offered free or discounted breakfast options, or complimentary spa treatments for a limited time to drive demand in low periods.

One of the key points of revenue management is that not all business is good business, and through utilizing its analysis the customers who can provide the greatest long-term value to the business can be identified. Hotels can easily fall into the habit of selling out rooms to lower rated business, inturn losing out on higher rated business – which is essentially throwing money away. This is one area of revenue management that owners may find difficult to appreciate, because on the surface it would seem counterproductive to turn down business. Hoteliers must instead trust their forecasts and market pricing, and over time they will see that turning down the wrong business, can lead to increases in revenue.

Beyond rates and revenue Beyond setting an optimal price, revenue management can also be used within a hotel’s systems and processes to safeguard the sustainability of a hotel and establish

a solid foundation for optimizing revenue and moving towards market-leading Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) performance.

A hotel’s ability to forecast demand more accurately will not just affect revenue, but it can have a wider impact across a hotel’s entire operation.

For example, accurate forecasts can be instrumental in helping with planning inventory and staffing levels. If a hotel can anticipate demand it will be able to have the right levels of staff working at the right times, even down to forecasting peak checkin and check-out times. This will help not only with optimizing wage costs, but will also increase satisfaction from guests. Guest’s form opinions of a hotel largely from the first and last impressions, and there is no surer way to annoy a guest than making them wait for a long time to check-in or out.

Accurate forecasts will also help with anticipating demand in restaurants and spas, meaning that levels of perishable inventory, such as fresh food, can be more accurately ordered, and waste minimized.

Bringing it all together Ideally owners should invest in revenue management from the beginning versus “calling upon it” to turn the tide in a down period. Ensuring effective revenue management is in place from the early stages of a hotel’s life cycle will give everyone involved the right information about where they are going and how to get there, including anything from pricing structures to identifying any ‘red flags’ early on.

Ideally it should come in at the investment stage, through feasibility studies and revenue projections, and the resulting flow-through, and then used to set strategy and establish a long-term action plan.

But, in saying that, any point in a hotel’s lifecycle is a good time to start utilising its extensive benefits.

Once revenue management is in place, inviting hotel owners to attend revenue management meetings will help them to understand and engage in the process. Hotel owners are very familiar with hotel revenue metrics like average daily rate and RevPAR, but for them to fully engage at meetings these should be tied into areas that owners are concerned with, like the asset’s value, debt servicing, return on capital employed and cost of capital. This will help owners form a greater understanding of how revenue management provides a rational approach to improving business performance.

In the current hotel environment, owners who want to maximize returns and improve the value of their asset should be taking an interest in revenue management and ensuring its effective implementation at their hotel, so that even in times of a downturn, successful strategies can be put in place to increase the value of a hotel across its lifetime. ■

August 2013 • hotelscapes 35

guest column

Emerging trend in hospitality sector-automated room services for guests Avinash K Gautam Vice President, Silvan Innovation Labs

Automation of spaces has been on the rise in the recent times, be it homes, buildings or commercial spaces – and now hotels too are embracing the technology to enhance their customer experience.

T

he primary objective of adopting hotel room automation is to enhance customer experience by making one’s stay more comfortable and relaxed. Hotel room automation not only provides the comfort of operating devices from a tab, but also makes necessary information easily accessible at all times. Hotel’s on the other hand can greatly benefit from the automation by using state-of-the art technology to offer better, more prompt services to the guests.

Thus, it creates a virtual synch between the guest and the hotel and ensures they are connected at all times resulting in easier communication and better services.

Consider the following instances. As you check-in to your hotel and walk and enter your room, you find the room to be setup according to your preference: a screen displaying a welcome note, your choice of light, curtain and AC setting, and TV set to your favorite channel. As you feel pampered, you have the need to get some work done and start the phone call. The call takes time and you have to order for something in your room. The touch screen panel displays various choices to you along with description and packages, and you select and order what you want at the touch of the screen while continuing with your call. Your dinner is delivered to you by the

36 hotelscapes • August 2013

time you finish the call.

After that you settle down, and with the same touch screen change the room settings if you feel like, and avail various entertainment options. If you fall asleep while watching TV, the room gently switches off the TV and lights for you on its own, so that you are not disturbed and you enjoy a good night’s sleep. Next day you do an express checkout from the same screen, and walk away without having to go the reception for checking out formalities.

Sounds futuristic? Well it is not.

All this is possible today and several hotels already offer such services.

Hotel Room Automation is the latest buzz word in the hospitality sector, and everyone is looking at it to see what it does for them.

The enhanced services that your guests can enjoy are: Door lock: The door can be locked opened directly from the tablet.

Guests can also experience doorcamera viewing. So when someone knocks the door, the visitor can be viewed on the TV before they enter.

TV, AC, curtain control: Air conditioning can easily be turned down or off when a guest room is unoccupied. With a single control panel, guests can easily select TV stations using graphical icons for stations. Curtains too can be controlled directly by a single touch of a tab.

Room lighting light control: Guests can control any light within the room from touch pad. They can set light scenarios and moods to make their stay more comfort-

able and exciting.

Room Status control: Room status can easily be controlled without having to physically change the signs on their doors.

All one needs to do is press a button on the touch pad to activate

status such as Do Not Disturb, Guest-in, Guest-out, outside the room.

Room Service: Communication between the guest and hotel management could not be made simpler. One does not need to call, check and place orders for their rooms. Guests can easily view and choose from descriptive and visually attractive menu on the touch pad. To place an order, all that is needed is a simple touch on the pad and the dish appears at the doorstep.

guest column Express Check Out: Guests can press the Check Out button to inform the front desk that they are ready for check out so that everything needed for check-out can be made ready before they walk out of the room Easy access to information: City guide is available on the tablet for the guests to plan their trip without trying hard to gather information from different sources. Information such as city maps, restaurants, places to visit can be seen on the touch screen. Besides that, all billing details are available for the guests so they are always updated about their bills need not request for them specifically. Travel options are available to the guests in their room on the touch pad through which they can directly book a cab.

Stay connected: Guests can also stay connected with the options to view Youtube, visit Facebook or browse internet on the touch screen pad.

Advertising of different kinds, such as spas, restaurants can be made available on the tab for the guests to see.

Hotel Room Automation has a number of benefits for hotel guests, making their stay more comfortable and easier. However, it has a number of benefits for the hotel management too: Enhanced Guest Experience: Automated rooms provide their guests with personalized services such as welcome note and setting the room to guest’s prior preferences which go a long way in making the guests wanted and pampered.

Enhanced Guest comfort: A single touch screen allows guests to control the lights, TV, AC, locks, curtains and other devices in the room. They can operate everything from the comfort of their bed with a touch.

Operation Efficiencies: Besides controlling activities in the room, g ue s t s c a n a l s o ac c e s s Hot el information without having to call the reception and thereby

av a i l s e r v i c e s s u c h a s r o o m service, house-keeping etc which makes their stay easier and more comfortable. Automation makes regular services like room service and housekeeping more efficient.

Hot el s c a n now s e nd i n s t a nt updates to the rooms for any special offerings or events within the hotel.

Cost savings: Hotels too can save costs by adoption automation. Hotel automation allows savings by better usage of resources and energy, thereby reducing huge unnecessary expenditure. Also, by making information available to guests through tablets hotels can cut huge costs by doing away with the need to print expensive compendiums regularly.

Increased revenues: Experience from hotels who have deployed such systems show that room services increased by 11-15% once such systems adopted. Enhanced guest experience also results in better occupancy. The technology allows hotels to tie up with neighbouring businesses, thereby providing additional service to the guests and at the same time increasing their revenues. The presence of the touchscreen allows hotels to stream advertisements on to them.

Hot el Room Automat ion i s a win-win situation. The single touch screen pad has become the device through which everything in the room can be controlled and every service in the hotel can be availed. The system in the room integrates with the Hotel Management Systems which the hotels use, thereby completing the integrated picture. The benefits which the guests and hotels both enjoy from Hotel Room Automation have compelled hotels to adopt this technology to enhance their services and thereby dramatically improve customer experience.

Many top hotels in India have adopted this technology and the time is not too far away when every other hotel in the country will be offering automated service to its guests. â–

August 2013 • hotelscapes 37

forum of the month

Women GMs Successfully balancing many roles Traditionally known as a male dominated industry, the hospitality scene in India is welcoming women in top managerial and executive positions.

Gifted with soft skills and high on passion, the feminine touch added by a woman General Manager to the hotel makes it more welcoming for the guests.

Ritu Chawla

GM, Courtyard by Marriott Pune, Chakan

Often in this industry female executives work in shifts and have to work hard to find that delicate balance between times spent with family, children and work-related concerns.

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W

e talk to a few men as well as women GMs around the country and find out what they feel are possibly the gender based challenges and strengths.

Tackling the Challenges Heaps of challenges are faced by everyone to achieve a high position within the industry. But there are

Monisha Dewan

GM, Double Tree by Hilton, Gurgaon

In the last decade the landscape of the hospitality industry has changed drastically.

With the changing times, perceptions have changed and opportunities have increased.

some add-ons that a woman has to overcome. Elaborating on the same, Ritu Chawla, General Manager, Courtyard by Marriott Pune, Chakan, says, “One of the biggest challenges is balancing our personal and professional commitments. This requires planning and sacrificing as hospitality is an extremely intense, time and energy consuming, fastpaced industry. To overcome this,

Benita Sharma

Area Manager, Golden Triangle and GM WelcomHotel Sheraton New Delhi

Women General Managers are more intuitive, creative and committed. They bring natural harmony, creative insights and out of the box thinking to solutions.

Ranju Alex GM, Goa Marriott Resort and Spa

Women also relate differently to their guests and employees because they are intuitive and sensitive.

They add little touches in the hotel which make guests feel more at home.

forum of the month m a ny b e l i e ve t h a t wo m e n i n or ga n i z at ion s showca s e tendencies to become an alpha male or ‘one of the boys’. Often in this industry female executives work in shifts and have to work hard to find that delicate balance between times spent with family, ch i l d r e n a nd wo rk- r e lat e d concerns. I personally believe that women are endowed with capabilities of handling pressure and facing challenges and this delicate and thin line that a woman tread on in the balancing act, is the key and often the most challenging part of her life.

However, one has to believe in their goals and continue on their chosen path in life.”

Britta LeickMilde GM, Hyatt Regency Kolkata

The traditional role of being a wife and mother puts many women under pressure to ensure their career path is planned at a very early stage, which requires a lot of support from their families.

Being a homemaker too, a woman has double responsibilities which she has to balance perfectly as neither of the two can be neglected. Agreeing to the same, Monisha Dewan, General Manager, Double Tree

by Hilton, Gurgaon said, “On the professional level, I have not faced any challenges which are gender specific. However, on the personal front, balancing career and motherhood needs some serious multitasking skills and planning capabilities. But this again has added to my overall skill set. Also, as a woman our need to prove ourselves is sometimes way stronger and this motivates us to be more focused

and drive for results.”

“I believe that balance is the key and not a choice between leading from the heart or from the head. A leader’s role is to mentor and nurture. My role is to enable a culture that is aimed at encouraging and motivating the team towards delivering memorable experiences at every moment of truth,” says, Benita S h a r m a , A r e a M a n a g e r, Golden Triangle and General M a n a g e r, We l c o m H o t e l Sheraton New Delhi

Do men and women General Managers work differently?

They dif fer in natu re a nd

personality, but professionally a General Manager can be judged on h i s /her prof iciency a nd management skills and not on their genders. Women believe that they are not inferior to men in any way, and so do the men. Saeid Heidari, General M a n a g e r, R e n a i s s a n c e Mumbai, shares his opinion and experience on women in the hospitality industry, “Women by nature are more sensitive and empathetic towards other people’s feeling. Having said that, they make powerful leaders and are duly responsible in their roles as General Manager. One can’t hold prejudices or bias on the basis of gender. Being a good

August 2013 • hotelscapes 39

forum of the month leader has nothing to do with gender but more to do with the individuals’ qualities. A General Manager has to be respectful towa rd s thei r a ssociates, a quick decision maker, a fierce leader and someone who lives by exa mple. To day wome n are playing the multifaceted role of a workaholic as well as a homema ker with great ease, and they are successful and respected in varied fields.

I strongly believe that women make great leaders and have had the privilege of knowing many such powerful women at the Marriott.”

Relating it to the daily life of a woman, Ranju Alex, General Manager Goa Marriott Resort and Spa says, “Women are naturally graceful, sensitive and hospitable. It has a lot to do with our society and upbringing.

A woman masters the art of juggling several balls in the air because she is doing it in her life all the time. This relates well to our jobs as general managers i n ho t e l s b e c au s e yo u a r e overseeing a myriad of functions and goals at the same time.

Guest satisfaction, employee engagement, revenue, profit, owner relations – all aspects need focus at the same time. Women also relate differently to their guests and employees because they are intuitive and sensitive.

They add little touches in the hotel which make guests feel more at home.”

Weaving out the difference, and highlighting the working s t y l e o f a wo m a n G e n e r a l Manager, Ritu Chawla, says, “Female managers have been valued more for their soft skills and democratic and participative management styles. Also, I do b e l i e ve t h at we h ave h i g h EQ – Emotional Quotient. The feminine essence of empathy, ability to communicate and t a ke a hol i s t ic v iew of t he

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situation fosters rapport and chemistry, and helps in optimizing decisions. As business becomes more complex with globalization, dealing with new Gen Y colleagues, and with the accelerating pace of innovation, t h e v a lu e o f “e m o t i o n a l l y intelligent leaders” is the much desired leadership ingredient these days, that holds us in good stead.”

Benita Sharma further puts forward her thought saying, “In my opinion the skill sets and attitude required for the job are more pertinent than the gender of the individual. It is one’s ability to perform and

Saeid Heidari GM, Renaissance Mumbai

A Women by nature are more sensitive and empathetic towards other people’s feeling.

Having said that, they make powerful leaders and are duly responsible in their roles as General Manager.

deliver the desired results that gets acknowledged. I believe in objectively administering and maximising the potential of the team. For any individual putting in your best effort and following it through to the end is important.”

David Hopcroft, General Manager, Shangri-La’s Eros Hotel, New Delhi has himself worked under a lady General Manager and he has no qualms on women being positioned as General Managers or even at higher positions in the industry.

Explaining it further, he says, “I do not think they function differently and they are at par

David Hopcroft

GM, Shangri-La’s Eros Hotel, New Delhi

I do not think they function differently and they are at par with their male counterparts. They have a great ability to motivate a team and understand their needs.

with their male counterparts.

They have a great ability to motivate a team and understand their needs. In addition, women have the natural ability of taking care of people, they are very attentive, caring and creative at their workplace, their attention to details and an avid eye for aesthetics plays a pivotal role in making them successful in leadership / higher management positions.”

The imbalanced ratio We still see huge number of ma le G e ne ra l Ma na ge r s i n the country in comparison to female, either because of the general perception of the society towards the fairer sex or due to the immense responsibilities that this position and industry brings along.

Hoping to see this trend grow with the changing perceptions, Monisha Dewan says, “In the last decade the landscape of the hospitality industry has changed drastically. Many new brands have come into the country and many hotels have opened. With the changing times, perceptions have changed and opportunities have increased. There is no bastion in this industry which does not have a woman either as a part of it or many a times leading it. With the changing times there is now a growing breed of woma n Genera l Managers too.”

Ranju Alex believes that the initial years as a professional in the industry are gruelling and demanding. She says, “A hotel job usually demands long hours and can be physically tiring as well. Hence, a lot of women join the industry but leave because they give in to the demands of their personal life. They do not find the right work-life balance and cannot take the pressure.

But women, who have overcome those initial difficult years, have

forum of the month moved on to see an enormous amount of success. One needs to understand that every industry has its ow n challenges a nd quitting it is not a solution. We need to work around it and make it a success!”

Br it t a L e ick- M i lde, G e ne r a l M a n a ge r, Hy at t Regency Kolkata is the first woman General Manager of the Hyatt Group in India. Talking about this imbalanced ratio of men and women General Managers in the hospitality industry, she says, “In hospitality there might be the factor that at the beginning to start your career off, you would need to collect experiences on the ‘shop floor’ which is in most of the cases a three shift rotations. Those shift timings are still a concern for the families. Though, we at Hyatt

Regency Kolkata are taking the utmost care that ladies are being picked up and dropped off from their home with secure services.

Secondly, the traditional role of being a wife and mother puts many women under pressure to ensure their career path is planned at a very early stage, which requires a lot of support from their families and maturity to focus on achievements before she is coming into the phase of her life where she has to slow down her career a little in order to arrange her family life. I believe without a strong mentor/ supporter on her side, this can be very difficult and puts a lot of women off the track to pursue higher achievements in their working life.”

Whereas, Ritu Chawla tells us the reason that could have

led to such an imbalance in the ratio of men and women General Managers, “I believe that this is one industry where hard work, energy and spirit outplay the degrees or where you sit in the pecking order. If you are willing to put in the time – which is easier said than done – you should have no obstacles. You need to be willing to go where the opportunities are. The more flexible you are the better. That’s where the catch is! It’s a fact that senior hotelier roles require a big commitment. A hotel never sleeps. Managing a hotel is not a 9-6 job and it can be difficult to f it a personal life around the demands of the property, its employees and its guests – hoteliers specially are often referred to as being ‘married to their jobs’. This is hard for

both sexes but particularly for women. Traditionally, female hoteliers in India, often face the dilemma of having to make a choice between family and career, and most of the time, t he for mer w i n s t he p ower struggle!,” she says.

“Hospitality is a 24 hour job and ones’ role as General Manager comes with immense responsibilities. Women play ma ny roles i n li fe that of a wo rk i n g wo m a n, w i fe a nd mother, therefore having to give so much time to the working place may pose a challenge.

However, at the Marriott, we believe in perfect balance of work and personal life and therefore we have many successful women General Managers at our various hotels,” shares Saeid Heidari. ■ by nikita chopra

August 2013 • hotelscapes 41

Human resource

Managing the hotel workforce:

The Motivation Mystery

These experienced men and women share their ways to keep the employees motivated, productive, unified and challenged.

Catching the early signs of a demotivated employee In a work setting, the force of motivation can convert intention into action, and when it comes to the demanding hotels and hospitality sector, it is the drive that helps maintain goal oriented performance and dealing with issues that were totally uncalled for.

When the impetus to be unbeaten in such a demanding job diminishes, by and large, the signs are pretty clear.

Says Sujata Guin, Corporate Director Human Resources, The Park Hotels, “A demotivated team member will often tend to display certain attributes and behaviours such as decrease in productivity, absenteeism or lack of punctuality, visible changes in personality bordering on the negative; irritable with mood swings, overall loss of commitment and lack of interest in his/her job.” Ritu Singh Verma, Regional Director of Human Resources, South Asia, Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts Pvt. Ltd. adds “Frequent complaining and unreasonably criticizing the seniors or the organization is a big sign of a dispirited employee.”

Vijay Kumar, HR Manager, Optus Sarovar Premiere, Gurgaon,

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lists the factors as – “…drooped shoulders, poor body language, unresponsive attitude towards work and negativities in approach reflecting poor performance.”

L a k s h y a r a j S i n g h M e war of Udaipur, Executive Director, HRH Group of Hotels, believes that the “non-verbal signs are often more important than the verbal ones.” He says, “The challenge for

the HR and the division heads is to spot these early and address them as soon as possible. In the hospitality industry, a disgruntled and de-motivated employee is like fire; the fire can spread fast and furious if one is not quick enough.

It really does not matter whether the employee is at the Front Office or is doing back office-work, he or she can become a source of major

embarrassment and harassment.

It needs the quickest fix in a positive way.”

Dealing with the undealt “First and foremost, we believe that a self-motivated employee, one who is generally keen and interested about his or her job, should f ind a place in the or-

[

human resource

It is critical to recognise that each team member is unique and will often have different needs, capabilities and expectations.

ganization. The organization takes on the responsibility of providing training, a sense of belonging and association, respect for the team leadership, clarity in communications. But it is the responsibility of the employee to demonstrate his or her enthusiasm and motivation EVERYDAY,” comments Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar of Udaipur. He says further,

Sujata Guin

Corporate Director Human Resources, The Park Hotels

It is important to create a culture that inspires and motivates team members such as autonomy, empowerment and inclusion, appreciation, recognition and rewards for instances of excellence.

“We, as heads of the organization, have to provide regular promotions after appraisals, financial incentives and a challenging work environment.”

R it u Si ng h Ver ma sha re s her thoughts on the same -“In this tough industry it is imperative for the managers to ensure that employees stay engaged, focused and motivated. Everyone

handles stress differently and managers need to take a oneon-one approach. Some of the ways to motivate employees can be - Don’s let stress percolate down to your employees and keep your worries to yourself, praise and recognize hard work, careers planning and growth for employees and take risks on them.” Vijay Kumar gives clear directions to the managers, “Be empathic. The pre-requisite skills required are – being a good listener, appreciating the minutest details, making the open door policy approachable at any level.

The belief in the organization of having a growth plan for all employees is the biggest booster for employee motivation.”

L a k s h y a r a j S i n g h M e war of Udaipur shares ways to manage each department separately - “Menus and tastes, hygiene and safety are changing so fast, that our employees have to understand the requests of guests from world over, and deliver as per contemporary industry standards. Therefore, I am a firm believer in regular training and orientation programmes, especially for F&B and kitchen staff.

Similarly front office requires constant inputs on handling technology, guest requirements,

and alertness at all levels as security today has assumed huge significance. This is where ‘team work’ and team leadership also becomes important.”

What makes or breaks their day?

It often takes just one factor that can make or break the day of an employee. Sujata Guin delivers an interesting thought – “The manager’s body language, approach and behaviour at the start of the day often sets the tone for the rest of the day. And during the course of the day, it is important that an employee feels included, valued and respected by his/her manager.”

Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar of Udaipur gives his opinion – “A word of genuine appreciation goes a long way in making an employee’s day; a pat on the back from the team leader can have amazing results on the staff’s morale. Similarly, a negative report or a warning need not be given in public, it can adversely affect the morale and performance of the employee.

For those who are relatively new entrants in the hospitality industry, a rude or arrogant guest can sometimes upset one’s mood and performance. But slowly, as we gain in experience, it is learnt that an impolite behaviour need not be taken personally.”

“When an employee knows that his work is or is not being acknowledged, it will certainly have vis a vis effect,” says Vijay Kumar.

Dispelling the fear, negativity and skepticism Ritu Singh Verma holds on to the thought that “open, frequent

Ritu Singh Verma

Regional Director of Human Resources, South Asia, Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts Pvt. Ltd.

Frequent complaining and unreasonably criticizing the seniors or the organization is a big sign of a dispirited employee.

and timely communication is the only way to keep away fear, negativity and skepticism.” Sujata Guin says, “It is important to create a culture that inspires and motivates team members. Some of the critical enablers include: communication and contact, fun at work, career planning and growth, learning and development, autonomy, empowerment and inclusion, appreciation, recognition and rewards for instances of excellence, and, some sense of security and stability in today’s uncertain world.” “There is nothing better than an employee who knows that transparency reflects at his work place and hard work will get him the de-

August 2013 • hotelscapes 43

human resource sired results,” states Vijay Kumar.

According to Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar of Udaipur, there is no place for negativity or scepticism at the work place. “At the first interview-stage itself, we have to be firm in selecting only the most confident and positive candidate.

Once you have a positive workforce, there are enough ways and means to enhance their level of performance and productivity: regular communication, training and involvement, and a handson approach by the team leaders can provide the positive energy required at the work-place.”

Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar of Udaipur Executive Director, HRH Group of Hotels

A word of genuine appreciation goes a long way in making an employee’s day.

Similarly, a negative report or a warning need not be given in public, it can adversely affect the morale and performance of the employee.

44 hotelscapes • August 2013

How motivated were/are they as an employee?

This question seemed highly pertinent, especially since personal experiences transform one’s ways of treating the subsequent line-up of employees.

Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar of Udaipur, Executive Director, HRH Group of Hotels, appreciated the question and replied, “Very motivated…if I had not been so motivated I would never have entered this industry. I continue to remain motivated till today. Yes, I have had the privilege of working with some of the toughest bosses in Australia and back in India. The tough bosses were also the most inspiring ones; I learnt a lot from them, their creativity, amazing energy at all times and their focus on ‘giving their guests the best’.”

Ritu Singh Verma, Regional Director of Human Resources, South Asia, Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts Pvt. Ltd. feels glad that her mentors and direct managers took risk on her. “I have always had great managers who have helped me to have an extremely motivated and fruitful career. Their confidence in me has made me reach my highest potential in all the roles I have played so far” Sujata Guin, Corporate Director Human Resources, The Park Hotels, affirms that she has always been a very selfmotivated person. “Having said that, the senior management at The Park Hotels has been a guiding force showing me the way forward, entrusting me with responsibility, inspiring confidence, providing ample autonomy and empowerment, offering constructive advice and feedback, and always leading from the front.”

Vijay Kumar, HR Manager, Optus Sarovar Premiere, Gurgaon, says, “ In my own case, with the opportunities given, I have able to take responsibilities of training in addition to my HR, resulting in overall development of self in professional career.”

Realising that the needs and expectations from work differ Each employee’s needs and expectation from work differ. When asked if it is practically possible for a manager to have a good personal and professional relationship with each employee, Sujana Guin replied, “A manager cannot adopt a cookie-cutter approach to managing his/her team. It is critical to recognise that each team member is unique and will often have different needs, capabilities and expectations. Accordingly, the manager

will need to tailor his approach keeping in mind this diversity.”

“Oh yes certainly! That is the challenge of management - every manager has to have a 360 degree perspective and should be able to guide, inspire and assist the employee in delivering his or her best. In the hospitality industry, you have to be a people’s person; if you cannot have a strong and stable professional relationship with your teams, then you are failing in your duty as a manager. Man-management, or in the hospitality industry, Wo-Man Management (as women form

Vijay Kumar HR Manager, Optus Sarovar Premiere, Gurgaon

A balanced, transparent approach and interpersonal skills helps in attaining mutual trust and respect which creates a vicious circle of employee engagement.

a very large percentage of our work force) is a very important subject; its importance can never be underplayed,” responds Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar of Udaipur.

Ritu Singh Verma answers, “Yes, it is imperative that the ma nager shou ld have good professional and personal relationship with each employee and therefore is it always recommended that the span of control for any manager should not be more than 5 to 6 direct reports.”

Vijay Kumar concludes, “A balanced, transparent approach and interpersonal skills helps in attaining mutual trust and respect which creates a vicious circle of employee engagement.” ■

by Varalika vij

August 2013 • hotelscapes 45

F&B

The menu pricing game Of all the business decisions a hotelier has to make, the one that causes considerable time and anxiety is pricing the menu. It might seem as a mere number game, but with dining options abound, pricing now requires considerable discretion. Hotelscapes inquires the factors that go into determining the rate tags on food and beverage, and the ways they win the menu pricing game without sacrificing value for the customer.

46 hotelscapes • August 2013

F&B Brand positioning - by means of food Nitesh Gand hi, General Manager, Trident Gurgaon explains that brand positioning a nd i m a ge i s i nd ic at ive of its luxur y quotient and the perceived value for money. “Price is governed by the use of the best quality ingredients, stateof-the-art equipment, trained

staff and a premium product.

For insta nce, when Trident Gurgaon opened, we introduced Japanese delights like sushi and sashimi, authentic Italian flavours in our pizzas, baked in our very own wood fired pizza oven, the ingredients which were imported from their respective countries. An important aspect that we must consider is that just because we are a five star hotel, we do not charge an exorbitant price. As a chain, we negotiate good prices and also buy a few items in duty free pricing. We often pass on the benefit to our guests. For instance, selling price of imported wines and spirits is lower in our hotel as compared to

a few free standing restaurants.”

Kishor Joshi, Food & Beverage Manager, Hotel Sahara Star contributes his opinion “F&B price points do add to the image of the hotel and the menu is always priced considering the resident guests and the locals around the hotel. Other aspects like competitor, occupancy, Average Room Rate (ARR), product cost etc. also play a role.” Rohit Sapra, General Manager, Mapple Emerald, Delhi believes that price points in F&B are a sensitive matter, for they might create an opinion on the hotel’s positioning. “It portrays a poor image of quality and standards, if priced at a lower price in market. Vice-versa if kept very high end, it becomes a hassle to grab and retain the customer. So, the prices should be indigenous, keeping all the parameters in mind.”

Factors to consider while pricing the menu

Nitesh Gandhi General Manager, Trident Gurgaon

An important aspect that we must consider is that just because we are a five star hotel, we do not charge an exorbitant price. As a chain, we negotiate good prices and also buy a few items in duty free pricing.

Nitesh Gandhi explains the various costs that add to the menu price – “A healthy food cost for a luxury hotel averages at 23% to 27% . This differs from restaurants to bars to banquets. While inflation grows at approximately 7% to 10% every year, as compared to 3.5% in developed countries, what also plays an important role is that the cost of ingredients has grown by 86% over the last 5 years. The year on year inflation measured by consumer price index numbers stood at 11.06% for June 2013 as compared to 10.68% for May 2013, while it was 10.05% last year for the same month. Today’s guest is ex tremely conscious and is aware of prevailing prices; hence the pressure is on hotels to maintain the right balance of pricing. The cost of importing has also increased due to the fall of the rupee. As a brand,

Kishor Joshi

Food & Beverage Manager, Hotel Sahara Star

Pricing is not only done on the basis of product, but also considering the clientele, offerings, type of service, ambience etc. Quality of product and pricing has to be extremely strategic and should have sync.

we never negotiate with the use of premium quality products or sacrifice with the experience of our guests. At the same time a hea lt hy c omp et it ive rat e in the market is imperative.

I n ter m s of enter ta i n ment, Saffron, our Indian speciality restaurant, offers live Indian instrumental music, while our award winning world cuisine restaurant ‘Cilantro’ showcases international musicians playing live music.”

“Our endeavour is to offer value for the price paid, stay ahead of the competition through repeat patronage, pricing in line with the brand perception and lastly, profit marginalization.

August 2013 • hotelscapes 47

F&B Apt entertainment is packaged to ensure a pleasant guest experience,” says Parmeet Singh Nayar, General Manager, Hilton Chennai. Kishor Joshi adds, “Pricing is not only done on the basis of product, but also considering the clientele, offerings, type of service, ambience etc.

Quality of product and pricing has to be extremely strategic and should have sync, so it brings the guests back to the hotel.”

Rohit Sapra agrees that “while pricing the F&B menu, a manager always aims to maximize the profits, without sacrificing value for money from the clients’ point of view and always keeps in mind

Rohit Sapra General Manager, Mapple Emerald

While pricing the F&B menu, a manager always aims to maximize the profits, without sacrificing value for money and always keeps in mind the comparative analysis of neighbourhood competition and menu engineering as well.

48 hotelscapes • August 2013

When was it last when they revised their prices and by how much percent?

Nitesh Gandhi – “Trident Gurgaon revises the prices and menus every quarter to six months, for variety and new menu items.

There isn’t a price increase every time due to the dynamic pricing models and many time we reduce prices as well depending upon the demand and supply in the market and situations in the city. For example, we may also reduce prices during a low period or offer attractive packages and increase the same during high demand times. Essentially, prices are increased by 3-5% every year.”

Parmeet Singh Nayar – “Quarterly menu engineering is done

by Hilton Chennai to analyse what works best and changing menu offerings in line with customer preferences.”

Kishor Joshi – “Last price revision at Hotel Sahara Star was done almost a year back... Pricing percentage depends from one restaurant to another, one food item to another item, and it’s generally from 5% to 10%.”

Rohit Sapra – “Mapple Emerald is in the process of re-defining the menu and it’s pricing. We are planning to increase it by average of 10% on selective items.”

the comparative analysis of neighbourhood competition and menu engineering as well.” He further clarifies, “Menu engineering can be defined as selecting, costing and pricing the menu items based upon comparative analysis of neighbours in case it’s new venture, or take the previous figures of item sales report, if it’s a running property. The factors that can be analyzed in that case are most saleable items, least saleable items, high profit margin items and high cost but, slow moving items.”

When a dish doesn’t sell “If a dish is not selling in menu we always try to find the cause behind non-saleability of the product and try to up-sell that,” says Rohit Sapra. Nitesh Gandhi explains the ways to do it – “We review all our items on the menu on weekly basis using menu engineering and see how each dish on the menu is doing by analysing the sales trends and guest feedback. Depending upon its popularity and the guest reviews, we decide the per-

formance of each dish. In-case the trend continues, we replace the same.”

Talking further on menu engineering, Parmeet Singh Nayar says, “Using menu engineering, we determine the popularity of the dish. The dish thus can be re-positioned, re-priced or substituted.” “While doing the menu planning we do a lot of market survey, kind of clientele we are targeting and past experience.

So when the particular dish is not selling chef tries to further improvise without affecting the actual taste, still if we do not get much response we replace it with another without affecting the menu/price balance,” says Kishor Joshi.

Driven by competition or customer?

Parmeet believes that “pricing is based on a balanced approach keeping in mind the desired clientele and what the competition has to offer.” While Rohit Sapra tells us that “as per the market demand and scenario, these days pricing

Parmeet Singh Nayar General Manager, Hilton Chennai

A dish thus can be re-positioned, repriced or substituted... pricing is based on a balanced approach keeping in mind the desired clientele and what the competition has to offer.

ha s t o b e c omp et it ion a nd quality driven,” Nitesh Gandhi trusts the opposite. He says, “It is important to note that there has been an increased spending on international travel, visiting malls with an average of 1500 footfalls on weekdays and 5000 footfalls on the weekends. Per capita income has also increased to 2.25 lacs per person from 1.5 lacs in year 2006. With the increased populace of websites like Groupon, Zomato and Burp, pricing is trending to be customer driven.” However, he also states that pricing should always be a healthy balance between the two as both are inter-linked. ■

by Varalika vij

design The One at Le Meridien New Delhi

Bobby Mukherji

On the importance of the design and material used for hotel flooring He has to designed several Delhi hotels such as Le Meridian, The Grand Lalit International, Svelte Hotel and Vasant Continental in Bengaluru, The Grand Ashok and Atria Barracks and in Jaipur. Bobby Mukherji, has been designing hotels in contemporary and cutting-edge designs and concepts for over a decade. He has also bagged some of the most reputed awards of the industry such as IAD Award for the best architect of the year-commercial (3rd position), The Economic Times Acetech award for the best hospitality design firm in the country in 2009 among others. In a tête-à-tête with the ace architect, Hotelscapes finds out what are the latest trends in flooring and to what extent the right flooring adds to the design impact of the property.

50 hotelscapes • August 2013

design How do you deal with dynamics of architecture within the hospitality industry?

Bobby Mukherji

Principal architect & Founder, Bobby Mukherji & Associates, Mumbai

The decision while choosing the flooring for hotels should be on the basis of cost, durability and aesthetics in that order. For atrium I suggest using marble.

Architecture in hospitality industry is completely different from the architecture of other commercial or residential spaces like offices or malls. In hotels one is looking to create an element of fantasy. The whole approach right from designing to executing is different in the hospitality business. I would say in this sector there is 2000% more involvement than architecture of any other sector. Man hours that go behind designing a hotel are also manifold. I think it is because of this reason that many of our Indian firms fail to satisfy western clients. The whole understanding of design and detailing of architecture is different in hospitality industry than designing or executing a mall, residential space or any mall. Here nuances just cannot be ignored.

How important is it to get the right flooring for different spaces in a hotel?

The most important thing to realise while choosing the flooring for hotels is that it should ooze a sense of luxury. Not only does the flooring in hotels have to be functional, it must add the décor and ambience of the space it is used in. The decision while choosing the flooring for hotels should be on the basis of cost, durability and aesthetics in that order. Talking about the right flooring, the materials used in public areas such as the atrium and the

[

lobby should be more robust and durable than any other part of the hotel. I would suggest using good marble, which are tough and can stand the traffic of luggage easily.

How does correct flooring add to the feel of a place?

Choosing the right flooring for each part of the hotel adds to the feel as well as ensures comfort for the guests. As I have mentioned earlier, public areas such as the atriums and the lobby should always have sturdy and durable material like marble as it is the highest traffic area of the hotel. Banquet is another area with high traffic and so I would recommend it always be carpeted. Axminster carpets are ideal for such places as they are sound proof and washable. So along with the aesthetics they serve the purpose of functionality as well.

Rooms however should have a softer and warmer feel especially the rooms of the city hotels where the choices are marble, stone or wood. However, in resort properties there should be minimal use of carpets. To add aesthetical sense, tiles can be used but carpets should be avoided. In fact the use of wood should be circumvented too. But there are some kinds of woods like tropical woods, which can be used in flooring in resort properties. At such places temperature varies and windows are kept open most of the times, which leave ordinary wood or carpets dampened.

The corridors should be carpeted as much as

public areas such as the atriums and the lobby should always have sturdy and durable material like marble as it is the highest traffic area of the hotel. possible keeping in mind the privacy of the guests.

The cacophony of people or the movement of baggage should not be heard to the people staying in other rooms. Bathroom should have maximum usage of granite, marble or tile. Also it should be ensured that the floor in the bathroom should be anti-slippery. Apart from these important points, if the floor compliments the overall styling, then you are half way through building an ideal hotel.

In terms of good quality and long-term ware, what are the things one should look out for?

Oro – Radisson Blu Hotel New Delhi Paschim Vihar.

Customers when looking for flooring generally go for longevity, then price and lastly aesthetics.

Flooring should be ideally replaced after every 8-10 years. The West follows this practice sincerely; however in India people tend to change floors after good 15 years. ■ by anupriya bishnoi

August 2013 • hotelscapes 51

flooring special

products

Grid Floors

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arelia by Grid Floors stands for uncompromising quality, professionalism and responsible care for nature and the forest. True to the principles of its founders, the company manufactures Finnish hardwood floors. Karelia hardwood floors are made of real wood. Therefore its timeless appeal makes a real hardwood floor the perfect complement to any commercial space.

Price: Rs. 500-600 per square feet

Sicis

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iciStone is the latest collection of precious marble and onyx panels featuring artistic mosaic inserts in glass or precious metals such as gold or platinum. Sicis revived a millenary art, enriching the ancient designs through modern creativity. Marble and stone slabs are water jet cut in order to create the outline of the mosaic pattern/design that will be placed by hand in Italy. Each shape (abstract or figurative) is created by hand by Sicis mosaic masters. Every tessera is cut and placed by hand so that the curvy lines and the details in colours and patterns are respected and highlighted.

Price: On request

Notion

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ngineered flooring by Notion is composed of three layers cross stacked then glued and compressed under high pressure and heat to create a f looring material that is impervious to humidity.

The Engineered Flooring by Notion allows enormous ways of setting out your own furnishing style starting with the floor. Numerous select timbers, various plank formats and installation patterns, different ranges and surface treatments open up a unique spectrum for exclusive floor design for both residential and commercial use.

Price: Rs. 375 per square feet

52 hotelscapes • August 2013

products

Nitco

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itco has launched ‘Tru Life Living Room Series’ which is set in a super-luxe panache to get you in the perfect mood. This collection is a work of art and that will raise the beauty quotient across the room. Colours and textures which are true to the nature will transform any room from dull to stylish.

The goal of achieving a decor that has both a classy and timeless attitude thus has become simpler. A wood finish, marble finish and stone finish tiles brings in life to otherwise plain floor tiles in the décor as an element of nature can totally transform the ambience, lending the element of exotica.

Price: Rs. 140 per square feet

RAK Ceramics

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AK Ceramics introduces 1000 X 1000 mm vitrified slabs in Italian designs under the Nanopix range. These mega slabs are designed to catch the attention of the aficionados who like to flaunt their style on a larger canvas. You can enjoy the charm of Italian marble designs in an imposing size to create your own masterpiece. Available in 13 designs, the slabs have a technical perfection making them extremely robust and virtually stain free. The randomness of design patterns achieved and lesser joints owing to its big size are sure to take the grace of your interiors to celestial heights. These slabs are apt for commercial applications as well as residential usage.

Price: Rs. 197 per square feet onwards

Kajaria

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he Square collection by Kajaria is exclusively designed with clarity just like natural ones to give an authentic feel to your environment.

Designed by European designers, it is available in more than 50 designs to match your style and need. The large size of the tile means less visible joint giving it a better clarity of design to add spark and trueness to your decor. This collection is available in different finishes like Stone Finish-3D, Roto Matte Finish, Lapato and Super Glossy Nano-Tech Finish. These tiles can be used in bathrooms, kitchens, living rooms, bedrooms or any niche area in a commercial or residential space.

Price: On request

August 2013 • hotelscapes 53

advertorial

PERGO: Transforming spaces with laminate flooring

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Naresh Maheshawari, CEO, Pergo India

54 hotelscapes • August 2013

he biggest flooring innovation introduced in Europe, Pergo laminate flooring was invented by Perstorp AB, in 1977, following an extensive search for an alternative use of decorative laminates. Introduced in Sweden in 1980, Pergo is now sold in more than 30 countries throughout the world. Launched in India in 1999, it was the first brand to enter the Indian market in the Laminate flooring category, creating a huge satisfied customer base of individuals, architects, designers, corporates, builders, hotels, PSU’s etc.

Today, Pergo helps its consumers in finding a wide selection of laminate flooring in many different design, size and colours.

Pergo also offers engineered wood with limited edition. The floor comes in many different plank widths and slab sizes. The stylish design ranges from realistic raw wood, tile to hardwood visuals.

Various ranges of Pergo laminate flooring are well adapted for various needs and demands put in different segments of different markets. Accordingly, the company produces laminate flooring in a number of different designs with regards to the function and performance but also patterns, surface structure and format.

Pergo sells laminate flooring with its own patented locking technology Perfectfold.

The brand is well known for its product offering, like Public Extreme, graded class 34, a grade which reconfirms the durability and quality of the laminate f looring from Pergo. Original Excellence, a laminate flooring that adds style and durability to floors. The Living Expression collection graded class 23/32, a grade with perfect sound reduction technology and Pergo’s Domestic Extra range, developed to handle domestic areas.

Apart from this, Pergo’s latest collections are Total Design; with a series of eight artistic floors with giant fingerprints motifs in bronze and silver; black and white barcodes. Natural Variation, a new patented design from Pergo with a chalked and rustic look that gives a feel of a real wood floor and Endless Plank that offers four new oak decors named Honey, Taupe, Barista and Sand. This is basically creating an illusion of never ending planks.

Naresh Maheshawari, CEO, Pergo India Pvt Ltd says “Once installed, Pergo floors are a snap to clean. You’ll never need to polish, wax or treat a Pergo floor. Not even the worst spill will leave a stain on the floor’s surface. With Pergo laminate flooring, any room can be transformed with a beautiful new floor and improving the ambiance in any room adds to the overall appeal of your space.” ■

“A Defining Moment” The Global Spa & Wellness Summit

October 5-7, 2013 ● New Delhi, India ● The Oberoi, Gurgaon The stage is set for the premier international event for industry leaders: the Global Spa & Wellness Summit, featuring over 20 high-profile speakers, new Industry Forums, the first Global Wellness Tourism Congress, new research, and an opportunity to help define the spa and wellness industry for years to come.

REGISTER TODAY AT

WWW.GSWS.ORG GSWSIndia2013_Phase3ad_Hotelscapes81213.indd 1

Thesis

8/12/2013 10:00:49 AM

products

Kenneth Cobonpue’s Outdoor Furniture by IDUS

I

D U S h a s r e c e n t l y l a u n c h e d the outdoor collection by world’s most c elebrat e d bra nd Ken net h C obonpue.

The collection comprises of beautifully designed seating options by celebrity furniture designer Kenneth Cobonpue. The designs are original, modern, inspiring, and functional using the natural and indigenous materials.

The Kenneth Cobonpue’s range includes

rattan armchairs; hand carved wooden coffee tables and unusual designs of furniture.

The collection is maintenance free and having UV resistant fibre which is mounted on a stable hot galvanized frame. It endures all kinds of weather, and it requires a wipe off with a moist cloth.

Price: On request. For more information visit: www.idus.in

Mirra chairs for your comfort needs by Herman Miller

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s work evolves, people are becoming more agile, shifting from individual to collaborative work in an instant. With all this motion, they need support that moves with them. In response, Herman Miller announces its latest advance, the Mirra 2 work chair.

The designers, Studio 7.5, describe the chair as a reincarnation of Mirra. The result is a leaner, lighter, more responsive chair that moves as one with the sitter and dynamically supports even a person’s slightest movements.

Price: On request For more information visit: www.hermanmiller.com

56 hotelscapes • August 2013

Luminous Water Technology launches ‘Livpure Biocare’

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a k i ng i nto considerat ion the level of hardness and impurities, L u m i n o u s Wa t e r Te c h n o l o g i e s launches Livpure Biocare especially for Indian market with its cutting edge features. This water purifier not only provide pure and safe drinking water but also offers a wide range of features such as- fully automatic and advanced ergonomics to match your modern life style, highest storage capacity of 7 litres (approx.), taste enhancer to retain essential minerals, purification

by RO membrane followed by post UF filter and silver impregnated post carbon.

Price: Rs. 9,990 For more information visit: www.livpurewater.com

products

Floor standing air conditioners by Samsung

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amsung has introduced premium models in its floor standing air conditioner series, Q9000. It offers energy-efficient cooling technology in an innovative, sleek design and is the world’s first air conditioner that uses jet engine technology and three spiral airflows to cool the air faster than any other conventional air conditioner unit. This air conditioner blends in perfectly with its surrounding décor with its slim and elegant design in earthy brown colour with a glossy glass finish. Also its compact body and stand fits into small corners making it space-efficient. The Q9000 also has a soft touch premium control panel that allows you to personalize setting through its feather touch buttons. Setting benchmarks in the industry is the Q9000’s first of its kind hidden display panel that pops up when the air conditioner is turned on. When the air conditioner is switched off, the fan vents are sealed completely preventing dust from entering the unit.

Price: Rs. 1,62,000 onwards For more information visit: www.samsung.com

Elegant wine glasses by Riedel Tyrol

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r i ng home T y rol w i ne glasses ideal for casual and elegant in-home dining.

Specially designed to enjoy popular grape varieties and e ve r yd ay ho m e b e ve r a ge use, each glass stands on a solid half sphere which offers an amazing light reflection.

Tyrol wine glasses are ideal for everyday drinking and low height allows the glass to be enjoyed daily for friendly dining. The line consists of 5 different sizes and each bowl is developed to enjoy popular grape varieties. Tyrol is executed in lead crystal that gives to the solid base, a never ending sparkle, and great stability.

Price: Rs. 5,775 for 2 glasses For more information visit: www.riedel.com

Premium linen collection by N.Kumar & co.

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ith the aim of excelling, N.Kumar & Co. is targeting at becoming a premium supplier of linen commodities for the hospitality industry. They specialize in a variety of essential supplies for hotels, spas, hospitals and more. Going beyond the basic amenities of towels, bed sheets, bathmats and pillow covers, the brand offers an extensive range of high end products for the hotel industry. This includes duvet and duvet covers, bathrobes, swimming pool towels, shower curtains and mattress protectors. They aim to provide fast service, good quality and competitive rates to their customers.

Price: On Request For more information email: info@nkumarlinen.com

August 2013 • hotelscapes 57

awards & recognition

Going green gets Accor the gold at 2013 PATA Gold Awards

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ccor’s two decades-long commitment to sustainable development has been recognized by regional travel industry players, as the Group earns a significant distinction at the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)’s annual PATA Gold Awards. The French hospitality group won the 2013 PATA Gold Award for Corporate Environmental Program in recognition of PLANET 21, Accor’s sustainable development program.

With PLANET 21, Accor has made 21 commitments to act together for the well-being of the world. These commitments span a range of issues and have associated targets for the year 2015, including a 15% reduction in water consumption, a 10% decrease in energy use and carbon emissions and a total ban on endangered seafood such as shark’s fin.

While many of the actions take place “behind the scenes” – such as installing low-consumption lighting, implementing recycling programs, or switching to renewable energies – Accor also invites guests to play their part, through simple yet meaningful gestures, such as reusing their towels.

Director PR & Corporate Communications, The Park Hotels awarded the ‘Corporate Communications Professional of the year’ at the recently concluded 4th CMO Asia awards

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he fourth edition of the ‘CMO Asia Awards for Excellence in Branding & Marketing' was hosted by World Brand Congress on July 31 in Singapore. CMO Asia represents 40 Asian countries that participate in the annual awards ceremony. This award recognizes and honours global leaders across industry segments for their consistent effort to strengthen communication and adding to create a strong brand equity . Ruchika Mehta - Director Public Relations & Corporate Communications was awarded ‘Corporate Communications Professional of the year’ for her significant contribution towards The Park’s brand revitalization exercise and strengthen the brand’s position as a leading contemporary hotel i n I nd ia. The Pa rk hotels recently introduced refreshed brand experience with a new visual identity and brand promise of ‘Anything But Ordinary’.

C MO A sia awa r d s a r e judge d by a n independent jury comprising of leaders in marketing, branding, advertising, public relations, bra nd st rateg y a nd cor porate communications.

58 hotelscapes • August 2013

lebua Hotels and Resorts honoured with the “Thought Leaders Awards for Innovation in Hospitality”

by Stars of the Industry Group, India

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he awa rd a i m s to recognize hotels around the globe that have made their mark in bringing about a change in organizations and society at large.

Deepak Ohri, Chief Executive Officer of lebua Hotels and Resorts says, “We are proud that our most discerning hospitality has been realized by this global prestigious accolade. The recognition by the Stars of Industry Group celebrates lebua’s commitment towards worldclass luxury and innovation”. The Thought Leaders Awards are international accolades conferred by the Stars of the Industry Group.

All weather furniture I No Maintenance I Customization

Interblocco, manufacturers of luxury outdoor furniture, introduces its new range of live-in furniture. We are best known, for our innovative and efficient approach, in producing attractive woven furniture, that transforms outdoor areas into sophisticated, relaxing spaces and looks equally spectacular indoors.

Sofa Sets I Stackables I Dining Sets I Bar Sets I Coffee Sets I Loungers I Gazebos I Accessories

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Manufacturing Unit: 170 Sector 6, IMT Manesar, Gurgaon, Haryana – 122050 India Phone: 0124 4367710 Mobile +91 9810344411, + 91 9811062555 Email: rohit@interbloccofurniture.com Office: 23, M Block Market, Greater Kailash Part II, New Delhi – 110 048 Mobile: +91 98111-42204 Email: info@interbloccofurniture.com

news snippets Domestic

WelcomHeritage launches Jukaso Junglemantra, a wildlife resort in Bandhavgarh, Madhya Pradesh

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et beside a beautiful lake, the resort features 12 cottages overlooking greenery and the bamboo and log construction imparts an authentic feel. A confined wildlife resort located at the renowned ‘Bandhavgarh National Park’, Madhya Pradesh, this resort gives you one of the best possible chances of spotting a tiger. A good added attraction is the local safari, the Sher Darshan and a chance to interact with local artisans and villagers.

48th FHRAI Annual Convention to be held in September in Kochi

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o be held in Kerala for the first time, the theme of the convention is ‘Sustainable and Responsible Tourism’ complimenting Kerala’s initiative to implement Responsible Tourism.

Suman Billa, Secretary, Kerala Tourism adds that the Kerala Government adopted RT as the cornerstone of its tourism policy and through strong policy intervention and participation of local communities, the initiative turned into a success. Vivek Nair, President, FHRAI states that

this year they intend to raise the bar and start good initiatives – the primary being FHRAI’s fundraising for Uttarakhand flood victims. He goes on to add that FHRAI Annual Conventions have been platforms to ensure the industry’s progress. These events have brought the industry face-to-face with government officials, political leaders and its stakeholders, to hasten progress.

The convention will be held from September 19 to 21, 2013 at Le Meridien, Kochi.

The Fern Hotels opens its 16th property at Delhi NCR

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he Fern Residency, Gurgaon opens with 42 rooms in two categories; Winter Green and the Fern Club. The property includes four indoor conference venues, a Club lounge and spa, and internet facility. The dining options include Felicita, a fine dining restaurant with Continental, Arabic, Oriental, Indian dishes and a German-inspired bar to catch the attention of quality business travellers.

Operated by Concept Hospitality, The Fern

60 hotelscapes • August 2013

Residency, Gurgaon offers environmentallysensitive amenities and facilities. The Fern Club guests receive complimentary access to The Fern Club Lounge, an exclusive area for private meetings and dining. Param Kannampilly, Chairman and Managing Director, Concept Hospitality stated that “This signing keeps us on track to open 10 hotels and resorts in the coming months as one of India’s fastest growing hospitality brands”.

Bangalore all set to unveil The RitzCarlton

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he globally admired iconic hospitality, The Ritz Carlton is set to open its doors in September in Bangalore. The hotel, located on Bangalore’s Residency Road is owned and developed by Nitesh Estates, Bangalore’s luxury property developer.

This 227 room property will be fully equipped with all luxury amenities and facilities that include a 15,000sqft spa by ESPA, a ballroom capacity for 1,000 people and a hair salon operated by world renowned Italian hairstylist Rossano Ferretti.

The Ritz Carlton will also feature chic dining options showcasing the best of world cuisine at ‘Lantern’ the dim sum and Chinese house, ‘The Market’ that brings in the concept of all-day dining-three meal restaurant, ‘Riwaaz’ the Indian restaurant, designed by world renowned Super Potato and a enjoyable patisserie – ‘Ganache’. Another highlight includes their roof top bar, ‘BANG’ with panoramic views of the city.

news snippets international

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces opens third property in Africa

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a k i ng t he i nt er nat iona l portfolio count to 17 hotels, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces announces the launch of Taj Palace, Marrakech in Africa. The hotel is opulently designed with beautiful panoramic views of the Atlas Mountains and gardens of the lush Palmeraie district.

American artist, designer and renowned ‘Orientalist’ Stuart Church oversaw the interiors and architecture. The style of the rooms draws inspiration from

the Berber Kasbahs of Morocco, the splendor of Ottoman architecture and the richness of Indian pageantry. With 161 rooms, guests can stay either in the sumptuous palace, which has 25 suites and a Royal Suite or in one of the four themed riads.

Taj Palace Ma rra kech features several dining options, serving a range of cuisines from Moroccan specialities with a Mediterranean twist at Rumi, to the flavours from Asia at the

fusion restaurant Mantra. The Bombay Club offers a taste of I nd ia a long w ith the f i nest cognacs and cigars. Currently under completion, the hotel will

also house a Taj Spa, spread across 3,800 square meters, the spa will feature 14 treatment rooms, two large hammams and a fitness centre.

Hilton Worldwide to continue to deploy IDeaS’ G3 Revenue Management System

B Sarovar announces the signing of The Premiere in Nairobi, Kenya

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he upscale hotel will be the group’s third property in Africa after New Africa in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania and The Heron Portico in Nairobi. Slated to open doors in 2015, the 144 room property is located in the Airport complex of Embakasi, convenient for the business travellers arriving in Nairobi. The hotel will also offer dining and conferencing venues complete with many other modern facilities.

GHM to launch three upscale hotels in Zhudong, Taiwan

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HM (General Hotel Management Ltd.) ties up with Taiwanese business development company Elements Innovation Co., Ltd to launch three luxury hotels. Located on the border of Shei-Pa National Park in Hsinchu County with a scenic view of the Wuzhi Mountain, The Chedi Club will feature 25 villas spread throughout a maple forest, each with dedicated staff and butler service. The Chedi will offer 92 guest rooms and suites with mountain-top views, along with restaurants, meeting rooms, a spa, and an infinity pool. The 200 rooms and suites of The Serai will be located nearest to the commercial and cultural attractions.

uilding on a year-long pilot program, the agreement supports Hilton Worldwide’s Global Revenue Optimization (GRO) initiative, which is designed to help hotel owners better manage room availability and pricing in order to maximize each hotel’s revenue and profitability. This agreement marks a significant expansion in the 15-year relationship between Hilton Worldwide and IDeaS. Hilton Worldwide will adopt IDeaS’ G3 Revenue Management System (G3 RMS) across 2,700+ Hampton Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites and Home2 Suites and other focused-service hotels within Hilton Worldwide’s global portfolio of brands.

The G3 RMS, which will be integrated with existing systems to ensure seamless operation, will track and analyze historical and current business performance to support revenue optimization company-wide. It will also deliver valuable data and provide a standard base upon which Hilton Worldwide can build future analytical applications.

“Through the G3 revenue management system and other cutting-edge analytics, we are taking the guesswork out of revenue management and pricing.

And by helping our hotel operators and owners make better-informed revenue management decisions, we are positioning both our company and our franchisees for long-term financial success”, said Chris Silcock, Global Head, Revenue Management, Online and Regional Marketing, Hilton Worldwide.

August 2013 • hotelscapes 61

people Radisson Blu, Noida

Marriott, Bengaluru

Rajat Sethi joins the Radisson Blu MBD, Noida as the General Manager. He brings to this current position a holistic and rich hospitality experience of over one and a half decades. A Hospitality Management graduate from Institute of Hotel Management, Chandigarh, Rajat Sethi, has had successful stints with The Oberoi Group, The Taj Group of Hotels and Hilton Worldwide. Sethi’s career graph grew from Assistant F&B Manager to eventually becoming the Executive Assistant Manager (EAM) of the property.

Pranay Verdia has been appointed as the General Manager. He brings with him an enriched exposure and a wealth of experience in the service driven hospitality sector. Pranay joins Fairfield by Marriott, Bengaluru from Jaipur Marriott where he was the Director of Operations.

Under his leadership, Jaipur Marriott Hotel bagged the recognition of the ‘Most Improved Hotel in Key Drivers of Guest Satisfaction in Asia Pacific’ by Marriott International. He holds a diploma in Hotel Management from the Institute of Hotel Management Catering Technology & Applied Nutrition, New Delhi.

Radisson Blu, Greater Noida

Gaurav Aggarwal has been appointed as Head of Sales, Fairfield by Marriott, Bengaluru. His responsibilities in the current position entail developing and maintaining customer relations to generate avenues for business to successfully launch the property, interfacing with key influencers, driving customer loyalty, ensuring speedy resolution of grievances, leveraging the presence of global sales offices to drive business and providing one point service delivery for all clients.

Radisson Blu Plaza, Delhi

The Orchid, Mumbai

Jitendra Kumar has joined Radisson Blu Hotel Greater Noida as the General Manager. He has worked with Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces as an Executive Chef for 19 years in all three SBU’s - Luxury, Business & Leisure. His last stint was with BJN Hotels where he worked as Director-Food Production & Operations taking care of both front and back of the house operations for close to 5 years.

Vishvapreet Singh Cheema has been appointed as The General Manager of Radisson Blu Plaza, Delhi. Cheema started his career with the reputed Oberoi Towers (now The Trident) Mumbai, and The Oberoi, Mumbai, with a total room inventory of about 1000 rooms. During his tenure with the Oberoi, he handled the largest F&B operations of both the properties. Thereafter Vishvapreet joined P&O Cruise Lines and launched their new ship ‘Ocean Village’. He was responsible for establishing and running all the 4 restaurant operations on the ship since inception.

62 hotelscapes • August 2013

Rajesh Kumar Gupta has joined as the General Manager, The Orchid, Mumbai. Earlier he was working as a CEO of Oye Hospitality Solutions Private Limited – Jaipur (International advisory, consultancy and management group). Rajesh has been associated with the hospitality industry for the last 16years and has worked in various capacities in some of the best hospitality brands. He started his career with Sofitel Dubai and thereafter worked with brands like Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, IHG, Taj in different capacity at different point of time.

people Hyatt Amritsar

Bhagwan Balani has been appointed as the GM at Hyatt Amritsar. He holds a Diploma in Hotel Management from the Bharati Vidyapeeth’s Institute of Hotel Management & Catering Technology, a Diploma in Marketing Management from Welingkar Institute and a BA in Sociology from Mumbai University. Prior to joining Hyatt, Bhagwan held several positions at The Leela Kempinski, Mumbai. He started his career with Hyatt in December 2002 at Park Hyatt Goa Resort & Spa as Sales Manager and subsequently got promoted to Director of Sales in December 2005 and to Director of Sales & Marketing in April 2008.

Accor, India

Holiday Inn, Mumbai

Ashish Sud has been appointed as Director of Finance, Hotel Operations.

He is associated with Accor India for the last four years. Ashish holds a strong expertise in corporate and financial planning initiatives in strategic planning, accounts and finance, auditing and taxation. He comes on board with over 17 years of rich and extensive experience in financial control and planning, budgeting, and treasury function in the hospitality and manufacturing industry.

Kunal Shanker has joined as Executive Assistant Manager. He is responsible for hotel operations and sales/marketing.

He has been associated with the InterContinental Hotels group for the last 14 years. Before joining the Holiday Inn Mumbai International Airport, he was working at Holiday Inn Cochin and Crowne Plaza Hotel Kathmandu as an Executive Assistant Manager and had key responsibilities of hotel operations and sales/ marketing.

Courtyard by Marriott Pune City Centre

Suraj Kumar Jha has joined IHG at their Holiday Inn Mumbai International Airport as the new General Manager. Most recently he was the General Manager with Radisson Blu Hotel Greater Noida.

Earlier he has worked with Zuri Hotels & Resorts, Unitech’s Hospitality arm for the development of Marriott hotels, Radisson & Select hotels amongst others. He brings over 2 decades of experience in Operations, Development and Business Development.

Pavan Kumar has been appointed Director of Sales, Corporate, Accor India. He has been a part of Accor India for almost 7 years. The association began with Novotel Hyderabad & Hyderabad International Convention Centre followed by Lavasa International Convention Centre. With such a strong affiliation to the group, Pavan brings to the table working knowledge of the group’s fundamentals and operations.

Jai Kumar Chugh has been appointed as the Director of Food and Beverages at Courtyard by Marriott Pune City Centre. A part of the hospitality industry for over 13 years, Chugh has worked with some of the industry’s most prominent brands like Courtyard by Marriott Chennai as the Director Food & Beverage for two years and as an Assistant Director Food & Beverage at Park Hyatt Goa Resort & Spa and Grand Hyatt Delhi.

August 2013 • hotelscapes 63

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Luxury Hospitality awaits the touch of Designers and Celebrities

F

rom foreign lands, we gather that the French billionaire Bernard Arnault, the chairman of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton has recently bought a five-star hotel in St. Barths and earlier this year, in June, had added a Milanese cafe, in the belief that he would provide a seamless experience in luxury. After providing the best through his brand Louis Vuitton, the luxury brand, and having earlier bought into Moet Hennessy, it was only logical for him to extend himself into hospitality.

Clearly, luxury brands are expanding their spectrum of exposure, extending their reach into similar but diverse fields. The brand is being expanded beyond its original moorings, clearly the owner believes he has a following that will go along with him, into newer pastures.

Within India, this trend is yet to emerge significantly into hospitality. A few foreign names have come, but essentially they already had a name for themselves as boutique designers. We have also seen the advent of celebrities getting into endorsing real estate projects – our leading cricketers have been endorsing premium projects. But the trend of them giving their name and design sense direct into hospitality is still nascent. What is also yet to happen is that Indian labels start investing into hospitality, by actually acquiring and running hotels.

Some of our cricketers have entered this space – Sachin Tendulkar has a restaurant and others like Mithun Chakraborty own a chain of boutique hotels.

But clearly, none has made big time investments so far.

Successfully leveraging the trend could help restore LVMH's share price. The world's largest luxury-goods producer has gained 1.3% this year in Paris trading, trailing Cartier-owned Cie. Fiananciere Richemont and Gucci-owner Kering, which have both gained about 30%.

Press reports suggest that Arnault’s quest to feed, host and clothe wealthy consumers is not stopping in St. Barths or Milan. LVMH is said to be converting defunct Parisian department store La Samaritaine into a five-star-hotel, slated to open by 2016. It's also reported to be developing Cheval Blac resorts from the French Riviera to the Sultanate of Oman, promising impeccable service and unforgettable experiences.

Indian designers and labels may yet not have the financial muscle to get into full time hoteliering, but surely, there can be marriages that can bring such alliances together. ■ by navin berry

64 hotelscapes • August 2013

RNI No. DELENG/2012/47318 No.U(C)-105/2013-2014, Posting Dt. 16-21/8/2013 Reg. No. DL(C) 01/1353/12-14

Date of Publication: 16/8/2013

7th annual edition promoting

Cinema Tourism exclusively promoting cinema tourism conference and B2B meet with Bollywood

7th Annual Conference & Expo October 18–19th 2013. Mumbai.

A N C H O R PA R T N E R

The networking forum where 300 leading producers from Mumbai cinema, both from the big and small screen, meet with providers and facilitators of ideal destinations suitable as cinemascapes, promoting cinema tourism O RG A N I S E R S

Mumbai: 18th-19th October, 2013 Email: cinemascapes@crosssectionmedia.com Website: www.cinemascapes.co.in