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FORTNIGHTLY INSIGHT FOR THE HOSPITALITY TRADE

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September 16-30, 2012 ` 40

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FORTNIGHTLY INSIGHT FOR THE HOSPITALITY TRADE

Smart Edusol partners with NSDC to impart skills in hospitality management Kolkata-based Smart Edusol Services has partnered with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to impart skills in hospitality management to around 1.78 lakh youth over the next 10 years

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The Aryan pride Ozar-based Mercury Winery’s Aryaa brand has been making waves in the international market and is slowly picking up momentum in India as well. Veral Pancholia, director, Mercury Winery speaks of what drives him and his wines

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Meeting on MICE The 7th Conventions India Conclave organised by the India Convention and Promotion Bureau focused on the strategies to develop India as an international MICE destination

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Job market in hospitality to stay healthy: ASSOCHAM In the middle of a glum economic mood, the job market for professionals in the Indian hospitality, healthcare, IT and IT-enabled services (ITes) and media and entertainment is growing and expected to create 16 lakh new jobs in the current financial year, according to an ASSOCHAM paper

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Contents September 16-30, 2012

Vol 7 No.23 September16-30, 2012

Chairman of the Board Viveck Goenka Editor Reema Lokesh* Assistant Editor Steena Joy Associate Editor

MARKET

MANAGEMENT

Sudipta Dev CONTENT TEAM Mumbai Sayoni Bhaduri, Kahini Chakraborty New Delhi Heena Mahajan Kolkata Joy Roy Choudhury Editorial Associates Marcellus Baptista, H A Mishra, Harpal Singh Sokhi, P S Sundar, M S Ram Advisory Board Anil Madhok, Rajeev Chopra, Santosh Shidhaye, Homi Aibara,

Smart Edusol partners with NSDC to impart skills in hospitality management..................................................9 RNB Car Travels to expand hotel and tourism portfolio...........................................................10 Hyatt to set up Hyatt Place hotel in Nagpur...................11 Toshali Resorts acts facilitator between Odisha govt and IRCTC ................................................12 Accor Hotels launches ‘Stay with Us and Pamper Your Palate’ promotion across India.......................................13 Hotel industry on recovery path: HPI Report..................14 Asia-Pacific business travel volumes up more than 60% in first half of 2012........................................15

Param Kannampilly, K V Simon, Jiggs Kalra, Jose Dominic,

CHEF’S PLATTER

Raju Shahani, N S Bhuie, Nirmal Khandelwal, Muralidharan Menon, Narendra Verma, Prakash Mankar, M Narayanan MARKETING Deputy General Manager

Slice of the pie ..........................................................22

Sachin Shenoy Chief Manager

Brand loyalty through service excellence ....................25

Pankaj Shende

Meeting on MICE ......................................................26

Marketing Team Dattaram Kandalkar,

EDGE

Rajan Nair Marketing Coordination Darshana Chauhan Asst.Manager - Scheduling & Coordination Arvind Mane CIRCULATION Mohan Varadakar PRODUCTION General Manager B R Tipnis

Master of the Melt ........................................................18 World-class gastronomy before takeoff ..........................19

Production Manager Bhadresh Valia Layout

HIGH SPRITS

Ratilal Ladani, Kiran Parker Asst. Art Director Surajit Patro Chief Designer Pravin Temble Senior Graphic Designer Rushikesh Konka Photo Editor

Hotels don’t see social media as priority: EHL research ............................................................29

Sandeep Patil

In-room television transformed ................................30 Express Hospitality Reg.No.MH/MR/SOUTH-44/2010-12 RNI Regn. No.MAHENG/2005/21391.

The Aryan pride........................20

Published by Vaidehi Thakar on behalf of the Proprietor The Indian Express Limited from Express Towers, 2nd floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021 and Printed by her at the Indian Express Press, at Plot No.EL-208,TTC Industrial Area, Mahape, Navi Mumbai 400 710 (Editorial & Administrative :The Indian Express Ltd, 1st floor, Express Towers, Nariman Point, Mumbai-400021).

Editor Reema Lokesh* (* Responsible for selection of matter under PRB Act) Copyright @ 2011

The Indian Express Ltd. All rights reserved throughout the world. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited.

September 16-30, 2012

LIFE

Job market in hospitality to stay healthy: ASSOCHAM ........................................31 REGULARS

Editor’s Note ..................................................................................................................................................................8 New Kids......................................................................................................................................................................16 Products ......................................................................................................................................................................17 Movements ..................................................................................................................................................................32 Weekend ......................................................................................................................................................................51 www.expresshospitality.com

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Bon Appetit! he Indian appetite is growing and with it, the food business in the country. From a market with hardly any F&B choices to that of a market which now offers a plethora of tastes, brands and choices – India has truly come a long way. The 90s brought in a whole new dimension to the food business with international food chains and QSRs making their presence felt in the India market. There has been no looking back since then. The food business is only getting professional by the day and even international celebrity chefs are eager to make their mark on Indian soil.

T “There are experts to sound a word of caution on this growing market and to send warning signs to first understand the pitfalls and market sensitivity of the region, before jumping onto the bandwagon”

The changing demography in the country along with the changing socio-cultural fabric has brought in a new breed of clientèle that is ready to experiment, explore new cuisine, tastes and flavours. On the other hand, international chains have realised the potential of the enormous Indian market and are ready to bend backwards to suit the Indian palate, which is an interesting mix of extremes - an adventurous palate on one hand but yet traditional, ready to explore (in the vegetarian space) on the other. International chains which are known for their non vegetarian flavours have reworked their menus and styles to suit the Indian requirements. Their openness to change is driven by market dynamics backed by research on consumer preference and needs. Today, one can find a few international QSR brands even in small towns in the country.

Apart from QSRs, it’s the fine dining space which is also witnessing an interesting transformation.

Celebrity chefs are stepping out of five-star hotels making their presence felt in the standalone space. From Lebanese to Thai, from Moroccan to French, the palate is far and wide and only adding more and more flavours to it.

However, there are experts to sound a word of caution on this growing market and to send warning signs to first understand the pitfalls and market sensitivity of the region, before jumping onto the bandwagon. India has its own set of market demands and dynamics and it is important for the international brands to do their thorough homework. But the truth of the matter remains that India will be spoilt for choice in the F&B space and there is no getting away from that.

Reema Lokesh Editor editorial.eh@expressindia.com

E-mail: 4pdesigno@gmail.com

CHENNAI: Vijay Kulkarni, FORTNIGHTLY INSIGHT FOR THE HOSPITALITY TRADE

Head Office Express Hospitality Rajan Nair, Dattaram Kandalkar Business Publications Division, The Indian Express Ltd, 1st Floor, Express Towers, Nariman Point, Mumbai-400021. India Tel: 6744 0000 / 22022627 Fax: 022-22885831 E-mail: pankaj.shende@fhwexpo.in

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September 16-30, 2012

Market

T H E B U S I N E S S O F H O S P I TA L I T Y

LEAD STORY

Smart Edusol partners with NSDC to impart skills in hospitality management JOY ROY CHOUDHURY - Kolkata

n a first-of-its kind development, Kolkatabased Smart Edusol Services (Smart Edusol) has partnered with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) with a mission to impart skills in hospitality management to around 1.78 lakh youth over the next ten years.

Under the terms of the agreement, Smart Edusol

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Dr. Suborno Bose, chairman and chief mentor, Indismart Group Worldwide and Dilip Chenoy, CEO and MD, National Skill Development Corporation

September 16-30, 2012

will work as a national partner of NSDC to provide short-term vocational training programmes exclusively meant for the hospitality industry. Both NSDC and Smart Edusol will jointly fund the project. Majority of the funds will come from NSDC in way of soft loans.

Speaking to Express Hospitality on this development, Dr Suborno Bose, chairman and chief mentor, Indismart Group Worldwide said, “This is a great achievement for the group as we were selected for this prestigious project amongst a host of leading hospitality education institutes after a strict evaluation process. We are happy that NSDC authorities have reposed faith and confidence on us after being convinced of our strengths and capabilities, like state-of-the art infrastructure, well-trained faculty members, IT infrastructure and financial background.” Smart Edusol will train 3,720 students in the first year and will then scale up to touch 1,77,564 trainees over a period of 10 years. It will largely focus on training students who are school or college dropouts and who also belong to the lower strata of the society. Local schools, colleges, NGOs, alumni groups and

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the industry would be contacted for prospective students who need skilling or up-skilling.

Smart Edusol, is a part of the city based Indismart Group, which owns hotels and operates and manages two of the best known hospitality education providers in India - International Institute of Hospitality Management (IIHM) and Institute for Advanced Management (IAM-IHM).

These two hospitality institutes having more than 22 years of experience in the hospitality education sector will play an integral part by providing vocational training programmes run by Smart Edusol.

Smart Edusol will share and use eight existing centres of these two institutes spread across the country to undertake this project to train students over a period of ten years. All these centres will be equipped with amenities such as computers, LCDs, projectors, printers, furniture and fixtures, generators, etc. Students will have to spend a nominal fees for undergoing these short-term hospitality 'skill' management courses.

The course curriculum is designed as per the guidelines of the modular employability scheme and

NCVT and in close coordination with the industry, by academicians and industry professionals. Evaluation and assessment scheme drawn up by various sector skill councils established by NSDC will be adopted.

Commenting on the development, Dilip Chenoy, CEO and managing director, NSDC said, “NSDC is pleased to partner with Smart Edusol Services in empowering more than 1.7 lakh people to contribute to the country’s economic growth by providing them with the skills that will help them to either find jobs in the fast-growing hospitality services segment or become gainfully self-employed.”

Placements and training support will be big components of this project and Smart Edusol will provide placement services to trained youth. Placement efforts will be carried out at both national as well as regional level to ensure maximum placements for all trained candidates. “We want to ensure that 70 per cent of the people trained have a job after training,” he added. The final two weeks of training will be an industry placement which will provide students an opportunity to gain valuable real life experience.

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RNB Car Travels to expand hotel and tourism portfolio SAYONI BHADURI - Mumbai

umbai based Red & Blue Car Travels (RNB) is looking at expanding their hotel and tourism portfolio.

Speaking about company plans Rahul Tuljapurkar, proprietor, Red & Blue Car Travels said, “We recently completed one year of successful operations. We have spent most of the first year perfecting our services for our present and future customers. In one year, we have increased our fleet from six cars to 22 cars to meet client demand.” In its second year, RNB aims to focus on marketing and creating awareness since most of the revenue generated in the first year was from positive referrals and word of mouth. He further added that the hotel

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and tourism segment contributes to about 30 per cent of the current RNB revenue.

“Majority of our hotel clients such as Sofitel and Trident in BKC have hired RNB Innovas for airport transfers and general day hires ranging from four to eight hours and base luxury sedans with an average pricing of `2200.” He also said that the request for high end luxury cars such as BMW and Mercedes is lower as these luxury hotels operate their own in-house car fleet.

The demand from tourism segment has seen an equal mix of premium cars and sedans which are taken for day hire in Mumbai as well as outstation hire to locations such as Shirdi, Pune and Surat.

“For the hotels and tourism sector we have factored in

the seasonal element and we will be developing car hire packages for different quarters of the year. For example, in the summer holidays, we will specialise in outstation car hires from Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar and other popular tourist destinations in and around Mumbai,” informed Tuljapurkar. To ease the entire car hire booking process, RNB is also introducing online bookings and credit card payment. They have invested in a MINI CountryMan, Audi A6 and Q7, Range Rover Sport to cater to various clients. Of the car rental business, Tuljapurkar said that car rentals are already an important part of the travel and tourism industry. A good range of choice of well maintained cars and well

trained drivers will shape the perceptions of Mumbai's travel and tourism industry.

Thousands of drivers make contact with tourists every day which makes them an important first point of contact with foreign and interstate visitors. He added that the biggest USP for RNB is that their charges are reasonable to other operators.

“Customers who are unaware and book through international operators will find that the price range is almost double for a previous model car as compared to lesser RNB charges for the latest model cars,” he said.

Also at RNB Cars, the meter is activated from the clients pick up and drop off point as opposed to meter coming on from the time the car leaves and returns back to their garage.

Mumbai based restaurant Nom Nom to enter national capital SAYONI BHADURI - Mumbai

umbai-based restaurateur Hitesh Keswani, partner, Silver Beach Cafe and Nom Nom is taking his Mumbai ventures to other cities.

Keswani elaborated, “We plan to take our Asian restaurant Nom Nom to Delhi.

While we will be opening another outlet of Silver Beach Cafe in Mumbai.” Apart from these two brands, Keswani is

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also developing an Indian cuisine restaurant concept.

He informed that he was impressed by the quality of north Indian food in Delhi and wanted to emulate the same in Mumbai.

All the restaurants will be company owned, added Keswani. “We aim to have around 20 restaurants across different brands by 2015,” he said of his future plans. Of his venture outside Mumbai, he informed that he would be

looking at Delhi and Hyderabad as key cities for expansion. “Hyderabad is still a fresh market and not many players have entered the competition,” he added.

Apart from these, Pune is also a city where he is contemplating setting up outlets.

For his brands, Keswani said, “I have a professional team with strict measures for quality control.” He added that each of his restaurant brand is designed

to cater to a special niche.

“The Chinese cuisine market in the suburbs of Mumbai was saturated, at the same time there was a lack of a value-for-money Southeast Asian cuisine restaurant, that is where Nom Nom came in. Similarly, Silver Beach Cafe always aimed at niche clientele where a good product and good service was available at a good price. Location was not the main focus,” he said.

Ping Pong to set up 15 outlets in three years SAYONI BHADURI - Mumbai

irah Hospitality is preparing to introduce international dim sum restaurant chain Ping Pong in India. Scheduled to open the first outlet in Mumbai by December 2012, Gaurav Goenka, director, Mirah Hospitality informed that he aims to establish the brand in key metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi Bengaluru, Pune. “We are looking at about 15 outlets in the next three years with a total

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investment of `60-70 crore.

The funds have been accrued internally,” he added.

Mirah Hospitality is the exclusive franchisee for Ping Pong across India. As part of the set up, the parent company has been training Mirah's team for three months. “We have staff in London and Dubai learning the nitty gritties of the trade,” said Goenka.

When asked as to why he chose to go with a dim sum restaurant brand, Goenka said, “The dim sum culture www.expresshospitality.com

has been growing rapidly across the world, and there has been an increase in interest in India as well. Currently there are no global players in India specializing in only dim sums, they are generally part of a larger menu.” Daniel During, managing partner, Ping Pong said, “After our initial expansion into the Americas, Europe and the Middle East, the Asian market was obviously the next step in Ping Pong’s growth.

Mirah hospitality understands and has expertise of the Indian food and beverage

sector, as well as a great passion for successful brands, making Mirah an obvious partner for Ping Pong.”

There are no changes or customisation in the menu planned, the aim is to provide as authentic a dim sum experience as possible. “We are increasing the vegetarian options on the menu, as well as more chicken based dishes,” Goenka added.

Ping Pong, established in 2005 currently operates 13 restaurants across the globe in London, Sao Paulo, Dubai and Washington DC. September 16-30, 2012

M|A|R|K|E|T NEWSTRACK

Hyatt to set up Hyatt Place hotel in Nagpur EH STAFF – Mumbai

yatt Hotels Corporation has announced that a Hyatt affiliate signed a management agreement with Unity Infraprojects for a Hyatt Place hotel in Nagpur. Hyatt Place Nagpur marks the 24th Hyatt Place hotel under development in India, bringing the total number of announced Hyattbranded hotels under development in India to 57.

“The development of the Hyatt Place hotels in India reflects our commitment to offering this select-service brand in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets,” said Ratnesh Verma, senior vice president - real estate and development, Asia Pacific, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts. “We are focused on

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creating preference by enhancing distribution of the Hyatt Place brand in both new and established markets in India where our guests are increasingly traveling.”

“This is a great moment for our company as this is our first hospitality venture,” said Kishore K Avarsekar, chairman and managing

director, Unity Infraprojects.

“We are delighted to be associated with an internationally renowned group like Hyatt, a company that is known for its high standards. We look forward to building on this relationship with them.”

Expected to open in 2016, Hyatt Place Nagpur will be part of mixed use development on Wardha Road,

which connects the city centre to the airport. The hotel will feature 125 guestrooms and will offer a restaurant and bar, meeting space, a fitness centre, and a pool. Hyatt Place Nagpur will be located less than five miles from the city’s airport, and will also be in close proximity to many of the city’s higher education institutions and retail areas,

including Civil Lines, Ramdaspeth and Gokulpeth.

Four new Hyatt hotels are expected to open in India in the remainder of 2012 across the Park Hyatt, Hyatt Regency and Hyatt Place brands, including: Park Hyatt Chennai, Hyatt Regency Gurgaon, Hyatt Place Hampi and Hyatt Place Pune, Hinjewadi.

IHCL to open 16 hotels in FY 2012-13 KAHINI CHAKRABORTY - Mumbai

he Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) is going to open 16 new hotels in FY 2012-13 across all portfolios. For the current financial year, the company will be opening one international hotel - Taj Palace Marrakech, Morroco. It is also looking at expanding Vivanta

by Taj and Gateway hotels portfolios in India. In the third and fourth quarter this year, it will open two Vivanta hotels in Coorg and Gurgaon. When asked on the investment set aside for the expansion plan, Raymond Bickson, MD and CEO, Indian Hotels Company said, “As we have a very diverse portfolio, it gets difficult to indicate figures pertaining to expansion plans.

Also, investment for each property depends on various factors like, location, scale, no. of rooms etc. Over the last 10 years we have invested US$1.5 billion from all sources for hotel expansion.”

When asked on how is the company looking at breakeven with the expansion plan and the current market scenario, Bickson added, “Although ARRs have been under pressure largely due to the current economic situation, through an aggressive sales and marketing strategy we have taken several steps to boost up occupancies.”

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Toshali Resorts acts facilitator between Odisha govt and IRCTC HEENA MAHAJAN - New Delhi

urgaon-based Toshali Group after acquiring four Odisha tourismowned accommodation units for management under lease development agreement (LDA) in the Buddhist circuit of Pathrajpur, Ratnagiri, Udayagiri and Lalitgiri, is now working as a facilitator between the government of Odisha and IRCTC. Speaking exclusively to Express Hospitality, Harihar Patra, director-marketing, Toshali Resorts International informed that the state government is active in promoting Buddhist circuits in the international market through various tour operators and together it is going to organise road shows in Thailand, Taiwan, Korea and Japan by

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next year for promotion of Buddhist products.

IRCTC will run two 'Mahaparinavan' Buddhist train this season on December 20 and in January on trial basis. The itineraries are expected to be eight nights and nine days for the first and seven nights and eight days for the latter month and will include destinations like Bodh Gaya, Nalanda, Sarnath, Rajgir along with new products of Odisha i.e.

Dhaulagiri, Ratnagiri, Udaygiri and Lalitgiri.

“We are expecting a lot of foreign tourists this year on the trial and aggressively marketing these new destinations among tour operators, universities, religious organisations, embassies and international bodies.

We are also in talks with

international carriers like Srilankan Airways and Air Asia to start flights to Bhubaneshwar,” informed Patra. Also the Odisha government is going to make a special monument to display the sacred relic casket (presumed to contain relic of Lord Buddha) for general public on the lines of the

National Museum and Patna Museum.

There are plans to organise a light and sound show at Konark Temple and Khandagiri Jain Caves at Bhubaneshwar. Brands like Taj are also in talks with Odisha tourism to develop water sports on the Puri and Konark beaches.

Dusit Thani College to launch professional Japanese culinary courses EH STAFF - New Delhi

usit Thani College has entered into an agreement with one of Japan’s most prestigious culinary institutes, the Tsuji Culinary Institute of Osaka, to jointly offer authentic Japanese cuisine courses to

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its students and general public.

Tsuji Culinary Institute signed the educational cooperation agreement with Dusit Thani College to offer courses to Dusit Thani College’s Culinary Arts major students starting in the academic year 2013.

Professional public courses will also be offered from early 2013.

Japanese cuisine courses and learning materials are being designed to suit the market needs in Thailand, and brand new kitchen facilities, specifically designed for Japanese

cuisine, are being set up at the Dusit Thani College.

Tsuji will send its teachers to conduct classes, as well as train Japanese cuisine specialty instructors of Dusit Thani College so that they can effectively run this programme.

Buyers from 50 nations to take part in Kerala Travel Mart EH STAFF – Kochi

round 1,500 buyers from about 50 countries, including India, will take part in the four-day Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) to be held in Kochi from September 27. A total of 1,409 buyers have so far registered with KTM, of which 1335 are domestic and 468 are from abroad.

KTM brings together the business fraternity and entrepreneurs behind Kerala's tourism products and services. With seminars, pre/post mart tours, cultural and exhibitor evenings, it offers participants first hand experience.

The mart was launched in

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2000 and is held once every two years. In the 2010 edition, 1172 buyers from 42 countries participated. This is the only mart in the country focusing on a single destination. Organised by the tourism trade in Kerala in association with the state government, the high point of the event is the rate synergy that exists between the private and public players, industry sources said.

The seller profile includes airlines, adventure tour operators, amusement parks, backwater resorts, eco-tourism operators, wedding and honeymoon holiday operators, while buyer profile includes tour operators, travel agents, event manages, travel writers, among others.

September 16-30, 2012

M|A|R|K|E|T NEWSTRACK

Accor Hotels launches ‘Stay with Us and Pamper Your Palate’ promotion across India EH STAFF – Mumbai

ccor Hotels India recently announced the launch of their nationwide ‘Stay with us and Pamper Your Palate’ promotion, which offers guests complimentary breakfast plus one additional meal of their choice during their stay on every room booking. Guests have the option to enjoy Indian or international cuisine for lunch or dinner.

The ‘Stay with us and Pamper Your Palate’ promotion is applicable at 16 Accor Hotels across the nation, and includes Pullman, Novotel, Grand Mercure, Mercure and ibis brands with properties in Bengaluru, Visakhapatnam, Nashik, Gurgaon, Lavasa, Pune, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

Accor Hotels launched this promotion across India to highlight the renowned Indian cuisine, while providing guests with the necessary amenities to complete their stay – whether for business or leisure. Each hotel has customised the ‘Stay with us and Pamper Your Palate’ promotion to showcase their signature restaurants and provide guests with the great dining experience.

Dining venues include The Square at Novotel serving lunch and dinner in a global buffet concept with signature dishes cooked made-to-order, Spice It at ibis - featuring an international buffet with a strong focus on Indian cuisine, and 12th Main at Grand Mercure - a Mediterranean and regional Indian specialty restaurant featuring an open kitchen and alfresco dining.

Meanwhile JCB International (JCBI), the only global payment brand in Japan, has announced a new partnership with Accor Hotels that will further increase acceptance of JCB cards in Accor hotels worldwide and on the reservation portal – Accorhotels.com.

In addition, the tie-up will promote visibility of Accor hotels to JCB card members in Japan through advertising campaigns and joint sales promotions. JeanLuc Chretien, executive vice

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September 16-30, 2012

president for sales, distribution, and loyalty said, “We are excited and honoured to partner with JCB, one of the world’s leading payment brand. This partnership will increase the acceptance of JCB cards throughout our

global network of hotels. In addition, we will work with JCB to deliver attractive offers to JCB card members.”

Under the partnership, JCBI will promote the Accorhotels.com website

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and Accor’s loyalty programme, Le Club Accorhotels, to its card members in Japan through various communication channels.

Koremitsu Sannomiya, president and COO, JCBI said, “Our new

partnership with Accor, an internationally prominent hotel brand, will increase JCB’s brand presence throughout the world while providing additional benefits and privileges for our card members.”

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M|A|R|K|E|T NEWSTRACK

Hotel industry on recovery path: HPI Report EH STAFF – Mumbai

he hotel tariff went up by 12 per cent in the first six months of this year in the country amid rise in demand for hotel rooms from domestic travellers, according to the recent Hotel Price Index (HPI) report.

As per the report which reviewed the hotel tariff globally, there are clear signs that the hotel industry is on the recovery path.

"In India, the overall rate rose 12 per cent following a surge in demand from domestic travellers as overseas destinations became more expensive," said the report. For the first time in five years, travellers paid

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more for their hotel rooms during the first six months of 2012, in all parts of the world and globally average hotel prices rose by four per cent over the last year indicating the hotel industry is staging recovery, it said.

Launched in 2004, the HPI looks at prices that people actually paid for their hotel rooms around the world. "The hotel industry bounced back in the first half of this year from a number of natural and political crises in 2011, and it is encouraging to see growth in the sector," said David Roche, president, Hotels.com.

While initially it may not seem good news for consumers, hotel prices are still only around their 2005 level,

representing great value for travellers when both wages and other prices have risen considerably, he added.

Following the turmoil of the Arab Spring in early 2011, confidence returned to much of the Middle East and North Africa and hotel prices rose accordingly.

Japanese began to travel again putting behind the turbulence of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in March 2011 while there was significant increase in the number of Chinese international travellers that helped to drive rates higher, the report said.

In the US, increasing business travel coupled with higher consumer spending made hotels busier with less

discounting. In the Pacific, the resources boom in Australia meant that space was at a premium, especially in Western Australia with global business visitors vying with mining executives for rooms. Although rates rose as a whole in Europe, the results showed a mixed picture. In euro zone, prices dropped where falling consumer confidence and spending power led to lower occupancy in the major cities and holiday hot spots.

"The first six months of 2012 have proved a promising start for most hotels.

However, the second half of the year, with increasingly mixed economic signals, will be interesting to watch," Roche said.

JHM Interstate Hotels & Resorts to manage Corinthians Resort & Club in Pune EH STAFF – Mumbai

HM Interstate Hotels & Resorts will manage The Corinthians Resort & Club in Pune. The 120-room, five-star resort property is owned by Pune-based real estate development company Nyati Group.

“We are excited to be given the opportunity by Nyati Group to manage this world-class urban resort in one of India’s most diverse and fastest growing cities.

This management agreement

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represents our thirteenth signed hotel in India and is a testament to the credibility that we have earned from our ownership clients,” said Lloyd Lauland, executive director, JHM Interstate Hotels India. JHM Interstate Hotels India is a joint venture between two international companies Interstate Hotels & Resorts and JHM Hotels.

Nitin Nyati, chairman and managing director, Nyati Group, said, “The Corinthians Resort & Club has always been a special

project for our group. JHM Interstate has extensive experience managing resort properties globally and they understand the Indian hospitality industry and its unique requirements. We are optimistic about our association with them.”

The resort offers a gymnasium with personal trainers, full service spa that specialises in Ayurveda as well as international treatments.

The property has two outdoor tennis courts and a cricket field with stadium

lighting, basketball court, beach volleyball area, skating rink and a football pitch. For indoor sports, the resort offers a billiards room, dart throwing, table tennis, foosball, card room, a video gaming area, board games including carom, chess, etc.

The resort features over 15,000 square feet of indoor meeting space, including the newly renovated 8,000 square foot Grand Ballroom, according to Pankaj Mathur, GM, Corinthian’s Resort & Club.

Only 6 per cent hotel management students employable: National Employability Report EH STAFF - Mumbai

ccording to the N a t i o n a l Employability Report for Hotel Management Graduates released by employability solutions firm Aspiring Minds, only 6-18 per cent of students of hotel management institutes are 'employable'.

The students who underwent a two-hour hospitality employability test, which is India's only competency-based assessment instrument for the hospi-

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tality industry, scored very low on fundamental skills like English language.

Around 19-43 per cent of candidates lack English language skills and therefore are unemployable in the hospitality industry as it is the preferred language of communication in almost all luxury hotels and premium restaurants.

Besides, they also fared badly on logical ability and soft skills like self management, quality orientation, managerial skills etc, the www.expresshospitality.com

report, based on a sample of more than 3,000 students from over 120 hotel management colleges across the country, said.

According to the report, females are more hirable and more trainable than males. Eight to 32 per cent of females are hirable as compared to males (6-16 per cent) across all profiles. Globally, it has been seen that females have higher conscientiousness as compared to males, and also have better people skills, which makes them

more service oriented and thus more suited to hospitality industry.

The report further noted that there are also a good number of candidates, around 20-28 per cent, who can become employable after some orientation and training by hospitality companies. The report is based on AMCATHospitality, a Computerbased standardised and adaptive test which is used by hospitality companies as an employability test.

September 16-30, 2012

M|A|R|K|E|T REPORT

Asia-Pacific business travel volumes up more than 60% in first half of 2012 Accor survey Business Traveller Research 2012 shows the average executive took ten trips vs six last year; Singapore beats Hong Kong as region’s top destination; hotel budgets up slightly year-on-year ccor has revealed the findings of its third annual Accor Asia-Pacific Business Traveller Research, which seeks to better understand the travel and behavioural preferences of business travellers based in the region. The survey interviewed over 2,500 respondents from nine countries in Asia-Pacific, who made business trips in the first half of the year.

According to the survey, the average number of trips taken by AsiaPacific executives increased by 67 per cent in the first half of the year, with ten trips reported in the first half of 2012 versus six trips over the same period last year. Mainland Chinese executives posted the highest increase in volume, with the average Chinese business traveller going on 17 trips in the first half versus nine trips over the same period last year.

The next highest increase was among Indian travellers, who took 13 trips compared to seven last year.

Singapore was the only country surveyed where business travel remained flat year on year, with the average traveller taking seven trips in the first half of both 2011 and 2012. The survey found Singapore emerging as the region’s most popular business destination in the first half of 2012 – the city-state appeared in the Top 3 destination lists of nine key markets surveyed. Last year, Singapore and Hong Kong vied for top honours. Thailand emerged as another key business destination in the first half, appearing in the Top 3 lists of travellers from Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Mainland China and Indonesia. The planned destinations for the remaining half of 2012 are similar to those countries travelled to in the first six months of the year, with the exception that Japan moves into the Top 3 for Chinese and Thai business travellers for the first time since Accor began the annual survey in 2010.

According to Evan Lewis, vice president, communications, Accor Asia-Pacific, “In this year’s survey, business travellers have told us that Singapore is their top destination in Asia-Pacific and that they expect to continue travelling to the city-state in the second half of the year. The findings underscore Singapore’s importance as business gateway to Southeast Asia.” Allocated hotel budgets increased slightly on the whole, with average nightly room

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budgets creeping up by 3.3 per cent to US$ 125 from US$ 121 last year.

Singapore-based business travellers increased their average nightly hotel spend more than any other country, budgeting 16.4 per cent more per night than last year, followed by Australian (9.5 per cent) and Indian (3.9 per cent) business travellers. Indonesian travellers had the sharpest budget decrease - 12 per cent - and the lowest accommodation budgets overall, spending US$ 81 per night on average. Another key finding from the survey is the reasons Asia-Pacific executives reported for increasing their travel this year. A change in job-title requiring more travel (38 per cent) coupled with an increase in business activity (35 per cent) and

Across Asia-Pacific, 74 per cent of business travellers are in managerial or lower roles, with the exception of India, where 65 per cent of business travel is done by executives at the director level or higher increased sales and marketing efforts (28 per cent) were the most frequently-cited reasons why business travel increased year-on-year.

Indian and Thai business travellers were the most bullish, with 47 per cent of Indians and 45 per cent of Thais citing an upswing in business as a main reason for increasing their travel plans.

When it comes to making reservations, business travellers in AsiaPacific prefer booking online (82 per cent) to offline channels. The majority of executives in the region (57 per cent) book directly via the hotel’s website, with a quarter booking through online travel agencies. India-based business travellers are the most likely to go directly to

a hotel’s online portal (69 per cent), with only 31 per cent of Mainland Chinese travellers doing the same.

The main reasons for booking online include convenience (73 per cent), access to special offers (61 per cent), ease of management (50 per cent) and instant confirmations (48 per cent). For business travellers from Indonesia and Thailand, being able to see what the rooms look like is also an important driver for choosing the online booking route.

Across Asia-Pacific, 74 per cent of business travellers are in managerial or lower roles, with the exception of India, where the bulk (65 per cent) of business travel is done by executives at the director level or higher. Notably, India also has the highest proportion of business owners travelling, suggesting that seniority is a strong influencer on the ability to travel for that country.

When looking at who is doing the bulk of business travel in AsiaPacific, one interesting statistic is those who aren’t: women. Business travel in Asia-Pacific remains dominated by men, with roughly one in four executives surveyed being women. Thailand had the highest female-to-male ratio (40 per cent) amongst Asia-Pacific business travellers in the first six months of the year, moving ahead from second place over the same period last year.

Australian and New Zealand business women took second and third place, with 33 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively. India rounded out the bottom of the list with only six per cent of business travellers being women.

The Accor Asia-Pacific Business Traveller Survey aims to provide a deeper understanding of business travel habits in the region. Accor commissioned ORC International to conduct the Accor Asia-Pacific Business Traveller Survey 2012, using an online methodology, targeting members of its loyalty rewards programme, Le Club Accorhotels. Over 2,500 Asia Pacificbased business travellers were surveyed online about their travel habits in the first half of 2012, and their planned business travel for the remainder of the year. This survey focused on business travellers currently residing in the following countries: Australia, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Thailand.

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M|A|R|K|E|T QUICK BYTES

New kids on the block Pico, Mumbai Pico, the international gourmet cuisine café owned by Nilgai Foods has launched its fifth outlet in Bandra, Mumbai. This is the first outpost of the café in the western suburbs of Mumbai, providing food lovers in this region a wide range of appetizing gourmet cuisines. The kitchen is headed by Nicole Gonsalves Pereira.

The Gateway Hotel Residency Road Bangalore The Gateway Hotel Residency Road Bangalore has unveiled a new look. With its newly-renovated contemporary lobby; Sphyre the new lounge bar and the restoration of the iconic Karavalli, the hotel has been re-designed with a 'green' theme.

The renovated lobby housing a new Deli at Gateway is swank and contemporary with a soaring ceiling, marble finishes and distinctive accents of modern art. The highlight of the space is the lobby lounge, designed with dramatic ceilings, suspended wood panels and large new-age chandeliers along with new clerestory glass windows and French doors. The new lounge terrace with its 'living wall', woven lounge furniture, has custom overhead lighting and planters that also act as lanterns.

Sphyre, the new lounge bar features wood flooring from sustainable sources, 'earth' screens with circles of backlit stained glass made from recycled material, fabrics with rapidly renewable content as well as many other 'green' design elements.

Six Senses Spa, Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort, Noida

Thailand-based Six Senses Spa has opened its first centre in India at the Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort in Greater Noida. Spread across three floors and a total area of 90,000 square feet, the interiors of the spa have been designed in a traditional Indian house style with inner courtyards and water bodies inside. The spa also features lavish use of local artefacts and motifs, and a herbal garden. The spa will offer 147 different treatments under 15 categories and is equipped with 26 treatment rooms with specialist therapy areas for Ayurveda, Watsu, Hammams, and Colonic hydrotherapy. There will also be the services of an expert Ayurvedic doctor at the spa for consultation.

INTERNATIONAL Tune Hotels, Jakarta

Renaissance Shanghai Caohejing Hotel

Tune Hotels has opened its third hotel in Indonesia. The Tune Hotel Pasar Baru, Jakarta, has 168 rooms in total, 125 doubles, 42 twin-sharing and a special needs room. The two other Tune Hotels’ in Indonesia are located in Kuta and Legian, Bali. Red Planet Hotels owns and operates the Tune Hotel Pasar Baru in close association with Tune Hotel.

Tune Hotels currently has 11 hotels in Malaysia, four in London, United Kingdom, four in the Philippines and two in Thailand. Hotels in Malaysia are located in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, KLIA-LCCT Airport, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Johor Bahru, Kota Damansara, Bintulu, Kota Bharu, Kulim and Ipoh.

Marriott has opened the 383-room Renaissance Shanghai Caohejing Hotel. The hotel is managed in partnership with Shanghai Caohejing Park Huagang Properties, and represents the sixth Renaissance-branded hotel to open the city. The hotel offers 383 deluxe rooms, club rooms and suites, including a presidential suite. For MICE the hotel offers 14 meeting room options of varying sizes including a divisible, pillar-free 570m2 grand ballroom.

Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru, Male

Ibis Christchurch Ibis Christchurch located in Hereford Street, just off Cathedral Square in New Zealand has undergone major remedial work, including the renovation of all 155 rooms and public areas, as well as structural strengthening to meet the city’s new building code.

Ibis Christchurch's September 4th re-launch date was selected because it represents the second anniversary of the first major quake to hit Christchurch. Accor’s Novotel Christchurch hotel is scheduled to reopen in mid 2013.

Shang Palace, Kowloon Shangri-La Hong Kong The Michelin two-star Shang Palace Chinese Restaurant at Kowloon Shangri-La, Hong Kong, reopened recently after a refurbishment programme. New facilities have been added to the expanded restaurant, including a brand new, dedicated wine cellar inside the restaurant as well as a 20-seat grand private dining room in addition to three other private dining rooms.

The new à la carte menu includes over 50 new dishes and six new private dining menus prepared by a team of accomplished Chinese chefs under the guidance of Chef Mok.

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Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru near Male International Airport reopened recently after a full renovation which now features private dipping pools adjacent to jet pools in each of the resort’s 48 villas.

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September 16-30, 2012

M|A|R|K|E|T NEWSTRACK

Chinni’s Pickles Chinni’s Pickles from FMCG conglomerate CavinKare, has launched a new range of Maharashtra specific range of pickles. The range is available in five variants including

Quick Tiffin recipes by Kawan Parathas

Paradise cream natural marble from NITCO

Kawan Parathas by West Coast Fine Foods has launched Quick Tiffin Recipes. Kawan Paratha is available in three distinct varieties: whole wheat, flakey and tawa. Kawan whole wheat paratha is available in 325 g, priced at `72; Kawan flakey paratha in 325 g, priced at `68 and Kawan Tawa Paratha is available in 325 g, priced at `63.

NITCO has introduced its new ‘Paradise cream natural marble’. Paradise Cream is available at `350-400 per sq. ft with sizes ranging

mango, mixed vegetable, lime, green chili and khatta meetha aam. Chinni’s pickle is priced at `10 for a 70 gms standy pouch; `20 for a 160gms standy pouch; `45 for a 280 gms jar; `55 for 340 gms jar (only khatta meetha aam); `70 for a 500 gms jar and `110 for a 1 kg jar.

September 16-30, 2012

from 3ft W X 4ft H till 10ft X 4ft slabs depending upon the marble quarry.

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SPECIAL FEATURE

TOP TOQUE

Master of the Melt Expert culinary dueler and grilled cheese mastermind, chef Jason Bangerter, took home top honours at the recent 2012 Grate Canadian Grilled Cheese Cook-Off for his Niagara Gold Crunch by a panel of four cheese experts. The sandwich combined the nutty notes of Niagara Gold cheese, the saltiness of prosciutto and the sweet and sour pop of pickled grapes.

"The one thing that's clear after today's competition," says chef Jason Bangerter.

"Everyone loves grilled cheese sandwiches. I am so thrilled my Niagara Gold Crunch featuring Niagara Gold cheese won the hearts and taste buds of the judges."

This year's four fierce

the Calgary Petroleum Club in Calgary.

The esteemed judging panel consisted of renowned Canadian food writers Elizabeth Baird, Rita DeMontis and Sue Riedl, and Kevin Durkee, founder of CHEESEWERKS restaurant in Toronto.

The Cook-Off was organised by Dairy Farmers of Canada to take the grilled cheese sandwich to a whole new level and showcase the outstanding quality, variety, taste, and versatility of

nications at Dairy Farmers of Canada.

"I hope we've inspired Canadians to put their own spin on this classic comfort food and enjoy some fantastic cheese produced in this country."

Cheese is a staple food in the Canadian diet, with 98 per cent of Canadians eating cheese regularly. The cheese making industry is one of Canada's oldest, dating back nearly as far as the fur trade.

Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) strives to create favourable conditions for the

Chef Jason he big grilled cheese showdown, the 2012 Grate Canadian Grilled Cheese Cook-Off,took place at Dairy Farmers of Canada's All You Need Is Cheese exhibit at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto in front of a crowd of drooling cheese fans.

Four accomplished chefs from across Canada took to the stage in an attempt to create the perfect combination of Canadian cheese, bread and a little imagination. However, it was chef Jason from O&B Luma and Canteen restaurants in Toronto who emerged victorious.

Chef Jason's Niagara Gold Crunch was voted best overall

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From L to R: Chefs Michael Howell, Liana Robberecht, Ned Bell, and Jason Bangerter are all smiles after competing in the 2012 Grate Canadian Grilled Cheese Cook-Off in Toronto.

(Credit: CNW Group/Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC)) competitors included Jason Bangerter, executive chef at O&B Luma and Canteen restaurants in Toronto; Ned Bell, executive chef of Yew Restaurant at The Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver; Michael Howell, executive chef of Tempestuous Culinary in Nova Scotia; and Liana Robberecht, executive chef of www.expresshospitality.com

Canadian cheese made from 100 per cent Canadian milk.

"I'd like to congratulate all four chefs, and of course the winner, chef Jason Bangerter, for doing an outstanding job today and helping us all celebrate Canadian cheese in its melted form," says Solange Heiss, assistant director, marketing and nutrition commu-

Canadian dairy industry, today and in the future. DFC works to maintain policies that foster the viability of Canadian dairy producers and to promote quality Canadian dairy products made from 100 per cent Canadian milk as part of a healthy balanced diet.

DFC is completely funded by dairy producers.

September 16-30, 2012

C | H | E | F’ | S | P | L | A | T | T | E | R ON THE MENU

World-class gastronomy before takeoff From August through September, travellers at Copenhagen Airport can get a taste of the best Nordic cuisine has to offer. Four Danish star chefs will take turns treating travellers to world-class Nordic food 'Copenhagen Cooking' festival. "Nordic cuisine had become one of the strongest Danish trademarks; and as one of the key transport hubs of Northern Europe we should of course make an extra effort to offer passen-

gers a taste of Nordic Cuisine during the Copenhagen Cooking festival,” says Carsten Nørland, VP, sales and marketing for Copenhagen Airports, and he adds, "We would like to give passengers a chance to sam-

ple what the gastronomic capital of the Nordic Region has to offer. Good travel experiences start at the airport – and our ambition with the pop-up restaurant is to make the good travel experiences even better."

rom August 21 30 September 30, a pop-up restaurant will serve Nordic food of the best kind to travellers at Copenhagen Airport.

Each week, a new Danish star chef will compose a delicious Nordic menu. The name of the restaurant is CPH Nordic Dining, and it is not just anybody who will be working in the open kitchen at Nytorv between Terminals 2 and 3.

The four chefs are: ● Thomas Rode from Danish Michelin-star restaurant Kong Hans ● Jakob De Neergaard, former head chef at Søllerød Kro, which also has a Michelin star ● Adam Aamann, the owner of Michelin-recommended Aamann Smørrebrød (openface sandwiches) and ● Timm Vladimir, winner of Masterchef 2011.

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The chefs are excited The star chefs will take turns composing a one-week Nordic Tasting Menu, and they all look forward to offering travellers great experiences tasting Nordic cuisine when the new pop-up restaurant opens. Not least, the new kid on the block – Timm Vladimir, winner of Masterchef 2011 – is excited about the new challenges awaiting him in the partnership with the Michelin-class chefs. ”I'm very happy and greatly honoured to be on the team with such great chefs. I'm not worthy, but hey, I'll do it anyway," says Vladimir.

The seasoned members of the team have promised to take good care of Vladimir and, not least, the passengers at Copenhagen Airport. "I think it will be fun to do my part in sending off passengers from the airport after they've enjoyed a good, wholesome and tasty meal," says Thomas Rode.

Nordic cuisine is a hit

CPH Nordic Dining will open at Copenhagen Airport in connection with the September 16-30, 2012

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SPECIAL FEATURE WINE CELLAR

The Aryan pride Growing slow and steady, has been Ozar-based Mercury Winery. Their Aryaa wine brand has been making waves in the international market and is slowly picking up momentum in India as well. Veral Pancholia, director, Mercury Winery speaks of what drives him and his wines. By Sayoni Bhaduri he journey of Mercury Winery began in 2006. Set in Nasik Valley's Ozar, Mercury Winery's set up is spread over 40,000 sq ft. The winery can produce up to 500,000 litres of wine. Of this the winery currently produces only 200,000 litres. The winery is set up on six acres land while 50 acres are dedicated to the vineyard.

Veral Pancholia, director, Mercury Winery is the man behind it all. Driven by passion and quality he has equipped the winery with a state-of-the-art plant, cooling system and automated bottling plants. Most of his equipment has been imported from Italy. Pancholia also informs that they import the bottles, corks and even the foil. He says, “The quality that I am looking for is very difficult to find in India and it turns out to be more cheaper to import these things than to source them locally.”

The winery has multi-capacity tanks with automated temperature controlled cooling system which ensures that once the grapes are harvested, they are processed within the hour to maintain freshness and stored at the right temperature to attain the quality.

The laboratory is where chief wine maker for Mercury, Stephen Donnelly and his local team keeps a check on each and every step of the entire wine making process. The bottling plant allows the company to bottle 2,500 bottles per hour. The lineup allows bottling of both still and sparkling wines with corks or screw caps in the same line with automated labelling machines. The challenge here, Pancholia says, is the lack of continuous supply of electricity in the region which is imperative to keep the cooling systems working and maintaining temperature of the wine. However, any damage to the wines is averted because temperature does not increase rapidly in the plant.

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Veral Pancholia

Wine maker Donnelly works closely with local team to create wines

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which cater to the Indian palate without compromising on the essence of the wines. Apart from Mercury's estates, the grapes also come from the contract farmers in the region.

Pancholia informs that they work very closely with these farmers to see that

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the quality of the grapes do not suffer, and hence the wines. He takes great pride in the fact that every wine bottle can be traced back to the plot of land the grape was grown on. “If ever the wine goes foul and bad storage conditions are not responsible, we can pull September 16-30, 2012

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out the history allowing us to pinpoint the exact cause of the problem,” he says.

Mercury's wines, like many other Indian wines, uses oak, but with a difference.

Pancholia explains, “While many wineries use oak barrels, we use oak chips. Oak barrels are very expensive affecting the total cost of production. Using oak chips we get the same impact and often better than that from an oak barrel.” The science behind this is as simple as the concept of surface area – oak chips allow the wine to envelope more surface area than a barrel. He also warns that many a times the barrels used in India are second use, which does not help the wines at all. One of the distinct characters of Aryaa wines, especially the reds, is the fact that Donnelly has tried hard to control the September 16-30, 2012

tannins and not let them overpower the wines. Some of the unique varietals that he has been working with include the Sauvignon Blanc Fume. Fume is an Autralian style of wine making which Donnelly has emulated for Mercury Winery.

With 100 per cent malolactic fermentation, the 2011 vintage is the first Fume for them.

However, due to the lack of understanding in the market about Fume, Pancholia has priced it the same as his Sauvignon Blanc. He informs that wine is doing very well in Rajasthan. Next year, he plans to produce a desert wine from 100 per cent Muscat.

But challenges are aplenty for him. The biggest, according to him, is the lack of good quality Indian wines in the market. While there are a few who do produce exceptional wines, there is an equally

large number of wineries producing sub-standard qualities of wines. Pancholia rues, “People are not tasting quality wines.” He adds that most Indian wines are on the economic side and not premium quality. This together with bad storage facilities provides many first time drinkers a terrible impression of wines. “A first time drinker will always find the wines to be too tannic or worst still sour, putting them off our wines for good.

This is our biggest challenge,” he says. This is because everyone is trying to create wines which are similar to those available internationally. “It is almost impossible for two wines from two different countries to taste the same,” he says.

Pancholia further adds that there is no real R&D in the potential of Indian wines.

“Whatever headway has been made has been due to the passion of private entrepreneurs.

The agricultural ministry does not look at wine grapes and wines seriously,” he says.

Apart from Nasik in Maharashtra, it has always been discussed that the weather and terrain of Himachal Pradesh is conducive for growing grapes, both wine and table. Again the lack of any research has not allowed any progress.

Pancholia's work with Mercury has followed the path of slow and steady with a keen focus on the quality of wines.

Aryaa is Mercury's flagship wine brand available in six varietals – Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Rose, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Shiraz. Pancholia also has two other brands Ex and Mex. These are specially created for the export market.

The name Aryaa, aims to reflect Indian heritage. The logo has been designed by Pancholia's mother reflecting the vibrant colours of India through the quintessential art of Rangoli designs. The wines are available across Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat (BSF and canteens), Maharashtra, Hyderabad, Goa, Kolkata, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. Not just India, Pancholia has spread Aryaa's distribution web internationally as well. Norway, Poland, Italy, Belgium, US, Dubai, China and Japan are some of the markets where Mercury's wines have travelled. “Our whites sell very well in Belgium while Japan is a big consumer of our red and rose wines. As a matter of fact, Japan is our biggest market internationally,” he says. www.expresshospitality.com

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Management

INSIGHT INTO HOSPITALITY OPERATIONS

COVER STORY

Slice of the pie Vying for a slice of the Indian pie, international restaurants are making a beeline for India proving that the country is on the verge of making a mark on the global food scene. By Sayoni Bhaduri

Hakkasan Mumbai

ver the last one and a half years, there has been an influx of international restaurant chains and brands into India, bringing the food business into sudden spotlight. And this is not just limited to the quick service restaurant (QSR) segment.

Even though most of the development has been in the gateway cities of Mumbai and Delhi, it is heartening to see that the business finally coming of age.

It started more than a decade ago when McDonald’s made their entry into India. Of those years, many were spent in R&D and understanding the Indian consumer market. The credit of making serious inroads into India undoubtedly goes to QSRs. While Ronald McDonald became a household name to

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Wasabi at The Taj

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relinquish quick hunger pangs, Domino’s became the masters of home delivery.

Gradually, others came and the today the list is endless – Pizza Hut, US Pizza, Subway, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Costa Coffee, Gloria Jeans, Coffee Beans and Tea Leaves, Di Bella, Dunkin Donuts, Krispy Kreme, etc. The flood gates of international interest which opened with the opening up of the Indian economy in the 90s is still continuing, offering Indian consumers experiences once considered elusive. With the tales of growing disposable incomes and the young Indian demographics these brands and more will continue to make a beeline for India.

The interesting facet however is the increase in the number of international high-end and fine dining September 16-30, 2012

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Jay Singh

Alain Coumont

Gaurav Goenka

Ketan Kadam

restaurants in India. Ten years ago, Taj roped in Morimoto for their Japanese restaurant Wasabi. At that time it was a five-star hotel’s prerogative to bring in such branding. It took some more time for other chefs and brands to look at India with the same enthusiasm. It was only two-three years ago that Chef Vineet Bhatia tied up with Oakwood Premier and The Oberoi in Mumbai to establish restaurants in India.

InterContinental Marine Drive, Mumbai tied up with Ian Kittichai to set up their Thai restaurants. In Delhi, Leela Chanakyapuri brought in two international brands – Megu and Le Cirque.

But all this is changing rapidly. Jay Singh, cofounder and executive director of JSM Corporation,

who brought the Hard Rock Café and California Pizza Kitchen brand to India says, “India currently is one of the world’s largest markets. Big restaurants across the world have been growing in their own locations, but for the growth to continue they have to look at newer destinations.

For instance, many American chains never ventured out, but now they are forced to.

They started out with the Middle East and now they are looking at India.”

Consumers too are becoming savvy. “Understanding of food has increased amongst the consumers, they demand authenticity. This cannot be taken lightly. The ability to travel has also had an impact. It is one of the many reasons why new brands are taking shape in India,” says

Ketan Kadam, chairman and managing director at Impresa Hospitality Management. This is also the reason why speciality gourmet stores like Godrej Nature’s Basket, Future Group’s Food Hall and international sections of Hypercity are seeing an increased interest.

At the same time, it is important to note that one area where QSRs still have an advantage is their ability to spread their network across the country. This is a limitation and a drawback for these international chains.

The nature, philosophy and quality of food served in these fine-dining establishments will not necessarily find takers. “Most of these international brands will typically stay in the

metros. If you look at statistics, there are about 50 cities in India with a population of over one million people. Even though the opportunities presented by these cities are immense, there are other things in play.

The disposable income is not high, neither is the exposure.

There is also the taste profile and even the price point may be a challenge. The business would not be viable in smaller locations,” explains Singh.

Also, these international brands will stay limited to the gateway cities of Mumbai and Delhi, these two cities are the faces of India. “They do not have the potential to do well panIndia,” says Kadam.

Even while restaurants are in the metros, there is always a need for a bit of

Hard Rock Cafe Mumbai September 16-30, 2012

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Le Pain Quotidien tweaking. Alain Coumont, the man behind Le Pain Quotodien accepts he has had to cater to Indian sensitivities. “Yes, we have increased the number of vegetarian, vegan and eggless options specifically for India. We drew from our large database of vegetarian dishes and recipes, worked collaboratively with the India corporate and kitchen teams to design Le Pain Quotidien dishes for India that took into consideration the palate and availability of ingredients.”

Coumont is working with Ahimsa Brands, which is the

exclusive licensor and partner of Le Pain Quotidien for India. Ahimsa Brands was co-founded by Anish Malhotra, a Mumbai and New York based entrepreneur and financier; Marc Blazer, a New York based entrepreneur and financier; and Pawanjeet Singh, a Mumbai-based hotelier, formerly with the Oberoi Group.

London headquartered Hakkasan came to India with Kishore Bajaj run Ka Hospitality also acknowledges catering to Indian needs. Chef Tong Chee Hwee, head chef, Hakkasan London says, “We

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have Indian clientele across all our restaurants internationally, so we are aware of the dietary specifications special to India. We choose to be adaptable according to the locations we are in. While we have a few dishes which are completely vegetarian we are always more than happy to customise a dish according to the customers needs.” He added that their Abu Dhabi outpost is also sensitive to the religious sentiments and does not have pork on their menu. This ability is a make it or break it factor in India, and almost all new restaurants coming into the fray are making necessary changes. Gaurav Goenka, director of Mirah Hospitality, who brought Manchester United Café into India, and is preparing to launch the Indian outpost of the dimsum restaurant Ping Pong in India adds that while they will not tweak the taste and palate component of the dishes, they will offer more vegetarian and chicken based dishes.

Challenges however are not limited to the taste and consumer profile. It is also to do with the ability to sustain on a long term basis. Kadam suspects the profitability of these brands, he says, “A top notch leading restaurant in Mumbai can churn a business of only ` one crore

in a good month. Land and real estate value is so high and it never depreciates, cost of production, variable costs, the cost of accruing the brand, the franchise cost, together these cause a great dent in profitability.”

Currently, it is a herd mentality, and based on the success of one, others decide that it must be an exciting market, believes Singh. There are lots of international brands looking at India who have absolutely no connection with the country.

“There are many new people who are keen to sign up with these brands and bring them to India, but I am not sure they understand the challenges,” he adds.

The influx of international F&B chains is in its nascent stage. It is just the beginning, and accordingly India will only be a tiny fraction in the overall company business. Singh says, “The reasons to be in India are mostly strategic.

Most of the brands are coming in are through the franchise model anyway, so there is minimal financial risks.” In the long run, the competition is bound to improve the quality of restaurants creating international benchmarks.

Perhaps a day will also be here when the Michelin Star Guide would be vying to rate Indian restaurants.

September 16-30, 2012

M|A|N|A|G|E|M|E|N|T GUESTWRITER

Brand loyalty through service excellence Service excellence often involves going beyond the call of duty or going that extra mile. It is a class of service that requires more than just aptitude or ability, says G Kiran Kumar reat customer service is not an accident. It needs effort, dedication, commitment and a whole hearted passion for delighting the customer every time. It is not the front line staff alone, but everyone including the head of the organisation needs to be totally committed to customer service.

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Brand loyalty defined Brand is defined as 'a distinctive identity that differentiates a relevant, enduring and credible promise of value associated with a product or service or organisation and indicates the source of that promise.'

Put in simpler terms as per Philip Kotler brand is ‘a name term, sign, symbol or design or a combination of these intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or a group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors’. Jack Trout, an authority on marketing says, “Differentiate or Die”. One needs to differentiate to build brand in these days of killer competition.

Brand loyalty refers to customer using the products or services rendered by a particular brand repetitively. Customer’s loyalty to a particular brand is the only way to retain customers and achieve real business success. Best companies always have high customer retention than their competitors, since they work continuously to improve at building a customer loyalty to the brand.

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Service excellence: Only route to build a competitive edge One may like to improve ambience, reduce the price, use latest technology, spend more on advertising to retain customer loyalty, but it shall not help unless the same is followed by improving the quality of customer service.

One needs to make a permanent impression in the minds of guests for them to come back to you.

Every guest would want his basic needs been taken care of. He will be extremely happy and delighted if the service received is much beyond his expectations. Then it becomes a memorable experience.

Look at the following true examples. ● In a five-star hotel at Chennai, where I was working, the general manager of the hotel was extremely guest focussed.

September 16-30, 2012

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In one interaction with a long staying guest he understood that it is the guest’s first visit to India and he was bored on weekends as he was missing his keyboard which he used to play.

The very next day, the GM brought his daughter’s personal keyboard and had it placed in the guestroom for the next one month. The guest was over the moon when he came back from work the next day. Something which was casually mentioned was taken so seriously by the hotel.

In another instance where I overheard a guest mentioning to another guest at the reception that he had broken his reading glasses and was not finding time to get it repaired. I enquired about the power of his glasses and in next five minutes went to his room with a pair of brand new glasses. He did not have words to express his thanks as this was unexpected.

I also took his broken glasses and got it repaired the next day.

In another instance, the steward remembered the guest’s liking for breakfast. During his earlier visit the guest had eaten Masala Uttapam.

When the guest visited the hotel the next time, the steward immediately enquired if the guest would like to have the same dish. The guest was overjoyed to see the steward remember his preference.

My father was once staying in a five-star hotel in Indore. He wanted the telephone operator to find out if he could talk to one of his old friends who was working in Bajaj Motors but he did not know in which department he was working.

The telephone operator, within a few minutes found out all details and came back with the following reply, “Sir! Your friend is working in so and so department. At present he is out of Indore and will return back to office only after ten days. I checked up his residence telephone number and address.

I can connect you to your friend’s residence, if you can want to speak to his family members.” My father was pleasantly shocked to get such a quick and courteous reply.

Once a guest in Chennai five star hotel asked for an analgesic tablet at the end of the day; he

was suffering from headache.

The floor housekeeper came back with four tablets. The guest said, “I just asked for one tablet”. The Housekeeper said, “Sir I do not know which brand you normally take. So I brought the four leading brands of medicine.” The guest chose one but the housekeeper advised the guest to keep the remaining three tablets too and use it in case he needed them. The guest had no words to thank him.

All the above examples clearly indicate that to provide that extraordinary service and delight, the staff must have the right mindset.

How to create service oriented culture Every organisation will have certain values and beliefs to be followed to realise the organisation’s Vision and Mission.

In the hospitality sector, excellent customer service should be the top most priority. ● Seniors need to live the values themselves, so that people down the line can emulate them.The importance of living values need to be explained in detail in all training programmes. ● Organisations should have a provision to pay the employees not only for doing routine duty, but also living the values. ● Each service organisation should document customer delight stories and share them with other employees as well as new recruits. ● In all daily briefings and debriefings of the staff at various levels the subject matter of ‘excellent customer service’ should come up more than once, so that it becomes a way of life. ● Heart of the house areas can have posters innovatively designed and displayed at various places to depict the customer service standards. ● Make the staff observe the guest habits and requirements, anticipate them and ensure the same is delivered each time. ● Small group activity (quality circles) can be started in all functional areas. They can be asked to take up service excellence projects, besides other projects.

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Things to do 1. Remember the basics - Be polite 2. Have customer friendly policies - Be flexible and authorised to bend policies to build customer relationships.

3. Know your customer – Know your customer’s habits, preferences and likes and keep a record of the same to meet his requirements whenever they visit you.

4. Provide what you promise – You lose credibility, if you do not provide what you promise.

5. Focus on making customers rather than sales - Forces or pushed sale will earn business, but good customer service will make customers coming back again and again.

6. Assume that customers are telling the truth – Always give the guests the benefit of doubt.

Majority may not like to complain. When any guest complains, listen carefully and look for the truth in it.

Things not to do 1. Never argue with your guest.

Resolve the guest complaint as quickly as possible. Though the guest may not be always right, try to correct or alleviate the situation.

2. Do not try to win the argument – It takes five times more effort, and costs five times more to gain a new guest, than to maintain one current guest.

So winning an argument and losing a steady customer is a big loss to the business.

3. Do not leave customers hanging – Research shows that 95 per cent of customers will do business with you again if their complaints are resolved on the spot.

Conclusion ●

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Deliver a memorable, unforgettable service experience that is distinctly unique.

Make service excellence everybody’s business in the company.

Provide adequate training and create the service oriented culture.

Put guests at the core of your business.

Know the customers fully to know their needs.

The writer is executive housekeeper, Ista Bangalore EXPRESS HOSPITALITY

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M|A|N|A|G|E|M|E|N|T EVENT ROUNDUP

Meeting on MICE The 7th Conventions India Conclave organised by the India Convention and Promotion Bureau focused on the strategies to develop India as an international MICE destination. A report by Express Hospitality he India Convention and Promotion Bureau (ICPB) that has been the marketing body for promoting India as a convention destination had recently organised its 7th Conventions India Conclave in Greater Noida. “Next year ICPB is completing its 25 years. We have completed a Vision Document and have also planned education seminars for promoting and marketing India as a MICE destination,” said Chander Mansharamani, vicechairman, ICPB. Usha Sharma, additional director general, ministry of tourism and chairperson, ICPB stressed on the fact that India has not fully realised the potential of MICE while globally the financial impact of the national and international meetings is close to US$ 300 billion.

“Apart from this, it opens seamless employment opportunities, knowledge exchange, further globalisation and accelerates non-governmental diplomacy. During such events, people tend to spend 25 to 30 times more than the average traveller. Food and beverage, medical, pharma, media, infrastructure, automobile are some of the key sectors for MICE,” stated Sharma.

The MICE industry in India has been growing at a rate of 20 per cent annually.

Ministry of tourism extends `5 crore to every state government for opening one convention centre and also encourages the PPP model for the development of the sector. To give a fillip to

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MICE tourism in India, Sharma emphasised on the need to enhance the role of PPP model in the tourism industry and strategically branding India as a MICE destination. “We have 50 international airlines who fly into India, four new worldclass airports, 12 domestic airlines with nearly 1,000 flights, comprehensive highways, strategically positioned on the East-West air corridor, exotic culture, medical facilities at a very reasonable price and an uncluttered tourism product.

We just need to reach out internationally and create a successful brand identity,” she concluded.

Martin Sirk, CEO, International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA) spoke about understanding the true value of international association meetings. “Only six countries have conducted rigorous scientific analysis of the value of meetings. USA contributed to 43 per cent MICE tourism and created 1.7 million jobs alone in the year 2009. We need to stop thinking about those 1,000 people at the conference, rather the need to take each one of them for another event,” he stated. He stressed on the need for India to gear up with its infrastructure and the scope of knowledge creation through such events to be able to come up to the international level and promote India as a MICE destination.

What India needs is convention cities and townships. Giving his views on the vision of new international convention

centres and trends in exhibition space, Shyam Nagpal, honorary secretary, ICPB, pointed out that convention centres do not make profit. “It is a challenge to fill up the halls. Money is not made in buildings but in townships.”

Winning a bid A session on 'The Science and Art of Winning a BidWhatever it takes!' saw an interesting debate by panelists Monimita Sarkar, managing director, KW Conferences; Prof A Malhotra, HoD, Nuclear Medicine, AIIMS; Sanjay Rai, executive VP sales Oberoi Group; Jaideep Khanna, general manager, sales and marketing and distribution, Hyderabad International Convention Centre and Nagpal. Sarkar highlighted the fact that there are 6,600 associations all around the world, and India gets around 150 meetings a year, out of which 43 per cent cent goes to hotels. “We have all the infrastructure, but what is important is detailed research, an ambassador from the domestic to the global level, monitoring global trends and identifying knowledge base.

Government support is a must,” she asserted. There is a growing and urgent need for the key stakeholders and the government to work under PPP model. Nagpal pointed out, “We are no longer competing the price; but on the art of bidding.” He mentioned Singapore as the key example to the PPP model, and the reason why it is considered to be the top ranked destination for MICE.

September 16-30, 2012

M|A|N|A|G|E|M|E|N|T Hotels and associations should work hand in hand to bring the maximum business into the country.

Long-term partnership Sponsorship programmes should be relationship based and long-term. “Events are booked 12 months in advance and so are sponsors. A great sponsor is there for the longterm. Sponsorship looks beyond the current event. A long-term relationship has long-term benefits,” said Sirk.

Rakesh Kumar, executive director, Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts mentioned that there has to be a systematic plan for sponsorship so that both organisations should be promoted, and not just the event.

“For every organisation, the goal has to be clear on how they can benefit from sponsorship,” added Kumar. According to Philip Logan, VP, Formule1 Hotels (Accor Group), the relationship is about getting like-minded partners together, “When you compare it yearon-year, you will get a much better result.”

ensure that ICPB is looked at as a business event like CeBIT in Hanover or IMEX in Frankfurt. We do not want to do a regular association annual programme, but a buyer-seller meet. We have got many hosted buyers this year, including those from overseas,” he said.

ICPB is coming out with a Vision Document - to make India the most preferred convention destination, and to train professionals for the industry. “We are starting a Young Professionals Forum, which is a full day course for post graduate students of hotel management institutes exclusively for MICE. There will be five-six sessions, we have invited professionals from different segments event management, hotels and venues, etc, they will interact with these students.

If in the next five-six years India's convention industry

Impact of technology Technology and social media are effective tools in the MICE segment. Rajiv Kohli, joint MD, Creative Travel, however felt that in India there is a lot of resistance to technology in the meetings industry despite its many benefits for the sector. An expert on social media, Miguel Neves, events and projects planner, IMEX Group pointed out that worldwide a lot of people are opting for non-traditional marketing. Social media is very effective for online marketing. Events planners majorly use social media platform in MICE space.

Christopher Rost, director sales, C-Vent highlighted how technology plays a vital role in the MICE industry, for example mobile applications can help planners extend their brand even before the meeting starts.

Cloud computing, SaaS (Software as a Service) based technologies are all making a difference.

ICPB – vision ahead The 7th Conventions India Conclave has been a major milestone for ICPB. One of the key factors, according to Mansharamani, is the collaboration agreement with TTG Asia, who have for the first time brought their event IT&CM to India. “We are also trying to September 16-30, 2012

www.expresshospitality.com

Chander Mansharamani has to grow to that level then we need not just infrastructure but also the software.”

The Vision Document will tell the states and cities what is the economic impact of holding a convention in that city. It will convey the message to the state government with all the statistics. “We will make them understand what the convention industry is all about and then tell them about the economic impact.

It is a process. No convention centre all over the world can go into profit if the city does not support them. Then they can sustain themself. That is what the Vision Document will talk about,” informed Mansharamani.

Before releasing the Vision Document ICPB will be organising roadshows to which state governments will be invited.

(With inputs from Sudipta Dev and Heena Mahajan) EXPRESS HOSPITALITY

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Event Tracker Hospitality Trade Shows in 2012-13 Date

Event

Venue

September 2012

HD Boutique

Miami

September 23-26, 2012

Inter Mopro Dairy Products

Dusseldorf

September 25-26, 2012

Africa Hotel Investment Forum

Nairobi

September 26–28, 2012

Annapoorna – World of Food India

Mumbai

October 17-19, 2012

ITB Asia

Singapore

October 18–21, 2012

Gourmets & Vins – Paris

Paris (France)

October 25–28, 2012

Wine, Food & Good Living

Helsinki (Finland)

Oct 31 – Nov 1, 2012

International Forum of Winemakers and Oenologists

Odessa (Ukraine)

Oct 31 – Nov 4, 2012

Expo Drink & Wine

Bucharest (Romania)

November 1- 3, 2012

Oishii Japan

Las Vegas, NV (USA)

November 1 – 4, 2012

AAGE - Expo d'Autunno

Biella (Italy)

November 5-8, 2012

World Travel Market

London

November 6-8, 2012

Drink Technology India

Mumbai

November 7–11, 2012

Ottawa Wine & Food Show

Ottawa (Canada)

November 8–10, 2012

Wine Card

Moscow

November 8–10, 2012

La Grande Dégustation de Montréal

Montreal

November 9-11, 2012

The Good Food & Wine Show

Brisbane

November 14-16, 2012

Interwine China

Guangzhou (China)

November 21 – 24, 2012

Bakery Indonesia

Jakarta

November 21 – 24, 2012

Food Ingredients Indonesia

Jakarta

November 22 – 25, 2012

Hotelia

Thessaloniki (Greece)

November 22–25, 2012

Gourmets & Vins – Bruxelles

Brussels (Belgium)

November 23–26, 2012

Taipei International Tea & Coffee Expo

Taiwan

November 23 – 26, 2012

Taiwan International Best Food Products & Equipment Fair

Taipei

November 23 – 26, 2012

Taipei International Wine Expo

Taipei

November 27–29, 2012

Vinitech

Bordeaux

November 2012

Tea Expo Guangzhou

Guangzhou (China)

November 2012

Lisbon

December 3 – 5, 2012

Food & Hotel Oman

Muscat

December 4 – 6, 2012

DDTE - Dubai Drink Technology Expo

Dubai

January 2013

Food Hospitality World

Mumbai

January 2013

Viticulture & Viniculture

Budapest

January 15–17, 2013 June 6-15, 2013

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Sival

Angers (France)

Sweet Eurasia

Istanbul www.expresshospitality.com

September 16-30, 2012

Edge

T E C H N O L O G Y F O R H O S P I TA L I T Y

TECH TRENDS

Hotels don’t see social media as priority: EHL research An Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne (EHL) survey shows hotels are going back to basics by increasing focus on offline and direct sales to reduce third-party costs instead of new social media techniques otels are putting social media on hold as a marketing and selling mechanism, while they focus on driving direct bookings in response to their continuous struggle for better margins with the Online Travel Agents (OTAs), says research by Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL), Switzerland and RateTiger.

The six month qualitative study, ‘The Distribution Challenge 2012’, conducted in five countries, found that while social networks including Facebook, Twitter, TripAdvisor and YouTube are recognised as new forms of digital marketing, hotels are still unconvinced about the impact these channels will actually have on bookings and are therefore deterred from implementing strategies in the short term.

One in three hotels have no social digital media strategy, and only one in eight use any form of social media as a marketing tool. Hotels have instead focused on the development of offline strategies to build more corporate contracts that deliver more predictable business, and to diversify their online distribution mix to generate additional revenue opportunities.

“We have found that hotels work with more travel agents and consortia contracts for the corporate segment, apply BAR to walkins, and develop special offers for returning customers, including the introduction of loyalty programmes,” said Horatiu Tudori, senior lecturer, revenue management, EHL, Switzerland. “This is an interesting turn-around from the unbalanced and heavily online-focused sales strategies of the past few years, which are not bringing the

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yields independent hotels so much need right now. We also found that hotels just don’t see the true revenue value in social networks, opting for more traditional methods to engage customers.”

“We’re not at a point where we can track social media. There must be a point of sale for it to really become a valuable resource, but even then we need to

One in three hotels have no social digital media strategy, and only one in eight use any form of social media as a marketing tool www.expresshospitality.com

master the techniques,” said a revenue manager in charge of an 82 room fourstar property in Paris, France.

RateTiger CEO, Michael McCartan adds, “We’re seeing hotels increase direct booking and create more relevant packages and promotions for their customers by engaging in social media.

Hotels need to look at how they can save time through technology and not just see additional tasks as an uphill struggle. It’s time that hotels start to get the balance right and ensure the conversation is flowing between revenue, sales and marketing managers.”

According to the research findings, while a few hotels have used travel deal platforms like Travelzoo and perceived it as an opportunity to stimulate demand, more hotels aim at optimising the use of Google (both PPC and Adwords) and SEO. Their goal is to bring more direct

bookings and take potential bookings away from highcommission OTAs. Hotels are looking to reduce the cost of distribution by directing bookings to their own website but also by increasing the share of smaller third-party websites within their distribution mix.

Methodology The intention of the review was to collect feedback from three-star and four-star hotels evenly distributed in five geographical markets: France, Germany, Spain, UK and the USA. Among the 72 hotels participating in the survey, 65 per cent were chain and 35 per cent individual properties, with capacity spread between 25 and 392 rooms.

All the interviewees were in charge of managing pricing and distribution, two thirds being revenue managers and the others general managers or directors in either sales or reservations.

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In-room television transformed Upgrades represent Hyatt’s long-term goal of becoming the most preferred hospitality company through innovation that enhances the guest experience yatt Hotels Corporation has transformed the standard in-room television into a fully connected, interactive entertainment center and virtual concierge at its full-service properties across the US, Canada and the Caribbean. Once the installation is complete, guests will have access to a range of offerings that, depending on location, include interactive entertainment, hotel services, local information, and advanced features that go well beyond the technology guests today expect to see.

“The consumer appetite for new and fun in-room technologies has been far outpacing what most hotels offer.

Hyatt will now be able to further satisfy that appetite.

Imagine a world where you can use your hotel room television to place your room service order, book a local tour, stream a movie from your Netflix account, and download a document to be printed at the front desk,” says Pete Sears, senior vice president of North America operations for Hyatt Hotels and Resorts. “This is the future hotel experience at Hyatt.”

The systems have already been installed in the nearly 1,800 guestrooms at Hyatt Regency New Orleans, Andaz 5th Avenue in New York, and most recently at the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center.

Over the next two years, the technology will be installed in

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up to 60,000 guestrooms across Hyatt’s North America properties.

The upgrade will allow properties to welcome their guests to the room with a personalised greeting and moodsetting music, and offer new features that include the ability to browse the internet to visit Facebook, Netflix, YouTube and other popular websites; manage and print documents, spreadsheets and presentations; make hotel room service orders and housekeeping requests, such as new towels or extra robes; access local directions; and make dinner reservations.

Meetings and group planners

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will also be able to use the service to send customised messages, information and updates directly to the rooms of guests attending their function.

In preparation for the upgrades, Hyatt evaluated how technologies would meet its guests’ needs and expectations during a hotel stay.

Insights from the research showed that guests want to use technology that match, and even go beyond, the ways in which they enjoy technology in their homes.

Guests consistently cited several capabilities as especially important, including more diverse channel lineups, an interactive programme guide, streaming video capability, engaging games, the ability to connect portable devices to a television, and the opportunity to access hotel information and make hotel service requests.

The new technology will be provided by Roomlinx, a provider of premium hotel and resort in-room media, entertainment and business solutions. Hyatt is the first major hospitality brand to integrate Roomlinx’s service across such a large number of properties and brands.

“Hyatt’s decision to offer guests expanded technology and entertainment services marks a bold transition within the hotel industry,” said Michael Wasik, CEO of Roomlinx. “The consumer

appetite for new and fun inroom technologies has been far outpacing what most hotels offer. Hyatt will now be able to further satisfy that appetite.”

Hyatt has recently launched a number of additional technologies to help enhance the guest experience.

The Hyatt app for iPhone, which allows users to search and explore hotels, book new and view existing reservations, as well as check-in and check-out while on-the-go.

Guests can join, get special offers and track point balances through Hyatt Gold Passport.

Hyatt has deployed iPads to speed up and simplify check-outs; guests can use this technology to review their folio and have it printed or emailed without having to wait in queue for an available front desk agent.

Hyatt’s Andaz hotels use iPads to perform check-ins, accept payment, and provide room keys even before guests set foot in the front door or while walking to their hotel room.

Hyatt’s Express Welcome, currently in a pilot programme, allows guests at participating hotels to check-in online before arrival and retrieve their room number.

Upon arrival at the hotel, guests can use their personal keycard, a special issue Gold Passport loyalty card, to open their room door.

September 16-30, 2012

Hospitality HR WATCH

Life

Job market in hospitality to stay healthy: ASSOCHAM In the middle of a glum economic mood, the job market for professionals in the Indian hospitality, healthcare, IT and IT-enabled services (ITes) and media and entertainment is growing and expected to create 16 lakh new jobs in the current financial year, according to an ASSOCHAM paper he Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in the Indian hospitality, healthcare, IT and ITenabled services (ITes) and media and entertainment is likely to be 20-25 per cent, an ASSOCHAM paper on “Emerging opportunity in rising sectors” said. Healthcare and hospitality sectors would grow the most among these verticals, followed by media and entertainment and IT and ITes. It said healthcare itself is expected to add 4,00,000 jobs by 2014. It is already one of India’s largest service sectors with estimated revenue of about `2.5 lakh crore (about five per cent of GDP).

As per the ASSOCHAM Research Bureau study, Kochi has the major share of 34.20 per cent as the most prominent employment source. It is followed by Coimbatore (12.70 per cent), Bengaluru (6.12 per cent), Delhi-NCR (six per cent) and Hyderabad (four per cent) at second, third, fourth and fifth positions respectively during April 2011 to April 2012.

“The job creation is happening at all levels. Even in the engineering and management colleges the campus placement trends are positive. Though cautious, corporate are back with their campus programmes. The trend is expected to continue for another next 6-12 months”, says D S Rawat, secretary general, ASSOCHAM. However, aviation, finance, real estate and textile sectors are witnessing steep decline, as these are sensitive to downturns, the paper said.

By 2025, the Indian population will reach 1.4 billion, 45 per cent of them being urban adults. To cater to this demographic change, the healthcare sector will have to be about US$ 100 billion in size (eight per cent to 10 per cent of GDP). Medical tourism, diagnostics and pathology will contribute hugely, growing to US$ two billion each by the end of 2013, adds the ASSOCHAM paper.

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September 16-30, 2012

Maharashtra govt to train tribal youths for aviation, hospitality Maharashtra Government has approved a scheme to provide training for jobs in the aviation and hospitality sectors to youths from scheduled tribes (ST). The government will help educated ST youths to train for careers such as air hostess, cabin crew, hotel management staff or customer care staff. The scheme will start this year, to be implemented by the Tribal Welfare Department.

The training will be of one-year duration, and government will spend `one lakh per candidate, which would cover expenses on accommodation, food, uniform and study material.

A hundred candidates each will be selected from Thane, Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad and Nagpur districts. They would be also helped with finding jobs. In 2006-07, `one crore had been allocated by the Centre for training the tribal youths as air-hostess and for other related careers. Accordingly, 100 tribal students were trained at air hostess academy in Pune, of which 34 girls and three boys got jobs. The Centre has now decided to discontinue the initiative, which would be taken up by the state government.

With domestic tourism on the upswing, the sector is expected to add 3,50,000 jobs this year. Rupee depreciation has seen foreign tourist arrivals increase by 12 per cent in one year.

Moreover, Indians themselves have become quite footloose.

Tourist growth is expected to be

from five million now to nine million by the end of the 12th plan period. “This will mean the industry will need to create 24.5 million new jobs by 2016,” adds Rawat. Just as the depreciating rupee encourages foreign tourists to come to India, it also discourages Indian tourists to go abroad.

CHEF CONSULTANT REQUIRED We are a popular restaurant and bar of a capacity of approx 175 pax in Pune.

We require a food consultant who can suggest improvements and improvisations in the menu. He should also be able to introduce several new dishes of various cuisines by training our staff by visiting the restaurant as and when required.

Candidates should have considerable experience with leading hotels, cruise liners and leading restaurants and be adept in various cuisines.

If interested, please write to punerestaurant@gmail.com

www.expresshospitality.com

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Movements Country Inn & Suites by Carlson, Mysore Chef Inderjeet Singh has recently been appointed executive chef at Country Inn & Suites by Carlson, Mysore, to be launched. In this role, he will oversee culinary operations of the hotel along with spearheading the F&B experience, he will also chaperon and head production activities and tasks, directing inventory, delivering high-value services to upscale clients as well as ensuring quality standards to enhance guest satisfaction.

Kempinski Ambience Hotel

IHG IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) has announced the appointment of Douglas Martell as vice president, operations, for the company’s south west Asia region. In his new role, Martell will spearhead IHG’s operations across India, Bangladesh and Nepal, currently totalling 13 hotels across 10 cities. He will also lead the team to grow IHG’s portfolio of brands, including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts and Holiday Inn, as well as Holiday Inn Express.

Media Hotel and Towers Jakarta

Absolute Hotel Services Absolute Hotel Services’ has announced the appointment of Napan Khumbute as Business Development Manager, effective September 1, 2012. Napan will focus on generating even greater growth for all our brands in all current and new regions with alignment to the company strategy.

She has been part of the Absolute Hotel Services Thailand Marketing Team since 2010, prior to that she held various sales, marketing and administration roles with the

Prince Hotel & Residence KL The Prince Hotel & Residence Kuala Lumpur has appointed Elisa Saw as its new director of marketing communications. In her new role, Saw will be overseeing the marketing and public relations strategies for the hotel. Her key roles include the development and implementation of marketing strategies in both traditional and digital marketing, advertising, branding, social media, search engine optimization, and search engine marketing.

She is also responsible on all aspects on media relations and corporate social responsibility programmes.

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Vella Ramasawmy has been appointed as the General Manager of their upcoming Kempinski Ambience Hotel Delhi scheduled to open later this year in East Delhi. With three decades of experience in managing hotel operations for business and resort properties, he is also President of the Ambience Group.

Centara Group.

Absolute Hotel Services has also appointed Chutima KaewtaFortescue as the new general manager of its 280-room 4-star property, Eastin Hotel Makkasan Bangkok. Prior to this latest promotion, she was general manager of U Inchantree Kanchanaburi, a boutique resort in Kanchanaburi, Thailand.

Beyond Resort Krabi Kata Group Resorts Thailand, the operator of Beyond Resorts brand of hospitality destinations, has appointed Claude Baltes as general manager of Beyond Resort Krabi. Baltes is a graduate of the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne hotel management school in Switzerland, and possesses over 20 years of international hospitality management experience.

The Media Hotel and Towers Jakarta has appointed Mohammad Iqbal as director of marketing communications. Prior to this, Iqbal gained a wealth of managerial experiences in international hotel companies like Accor, Marriott, Starwood and IHG Group in various countries such as Bahrain, Dubai, Singapore, Australia and Indonesia.

Centara Ras Fushi Resort & Spa Maldives Karen Merrick has been appointed as general manager of Centara Ras Fushi Resort & Spa Maldives.

Merrick, a British national from Scotland, has almost 25 years' experience in the hospitality industry throughout the UK. For the last seven years she has been working overseas in resort operations within Maldives, Indonesia and Malaysia.

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Novotel Bangkok Impact Novotel Bangkok Impact has appointed Zayne Boon as general manager. Boon joined Accor in 1992 as executive assistant manager at Novotel Launceston Tasmania and has held general manager positions at various Accor hotels in Australia and New Zealand. He has more than 20 years experience in the hospitality industry.

Swissôtel Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts has appointed Tilman Fuchs as director brand marketing. Born in Germany, Fuchs previously was the creative director brand marketing in Munich and Zurich for Interbrand. He has over 20 years of industry experience.

Hertz Australasia Kevin Doyle, who has been the face of international sales and marketing for Hertz in the Australasian region, responsible for inbound business and outbound sales to all regions globally, has retired. The company has appointed Claire Flack to the new role of manager, travel distribution, Australia and New Zealand. Flack is responsible for online and wholesale travel partners in both inbound sales for Hertz in Australia and New Zealand and global outbound sales from both countries.

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September 16-30, 2012

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Going places ravelling got classier with Tumi, the international brand of luxury travel, business and lifestyle accessories, setting up shop at Palladium. The talk was on Tumi’s heritage of design excellence appealing to the world’s sophisticated and demanding consumers who opt for only the best international brands to complement their lifestyles. You learnt that the brand is sold in 200 stores from New York to Paris and London to Tokyo. On laaunch evening host Tanaaz Bhatia along with Sanjay Kapoor, MD, Genesis Luxury and Deepika Gehani warmly welcomed Bollywood actor Karisma Kapoor, singer Anushka Manchanda, fashion designers Nachiket Barve and Payal Kothari and others like Vikram Raizada, Sahil Shroff and Angela Jonsson. And it was time to say cheers with Johnnie Walker Gold Label.

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Marcellus Baptista

Tanaaz Bhatia, Karisma Kapoor, Deepika Gehani and Sanjay Kapoor at the opening of Tumi

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN MUMBAI’S HOTELS? A PEEK INTO THE PARTY CIRCUIT AND EVENTS IN THE CITY...

Spice and nice

Imperial splendour oodies were thrilled at the opening of Saffron Bay at Chowpatty. It was the launch of an imperial Indian restaurant and a multi-cuisine banquet room with an al fresco rooftop bar on the anvil. Hors d’oeuvres and biryanis did the rounds in the packed restaurant while in the banquet room you could hear the classical songs by Somesh Mathur.

Relishing the food crafted by chef Nirmal Noel Monteiro and his team were Dino Morea, Nandita Mahtani, Ira Dubey, Angad Bedi, Sameer Malhotra, Imtiaz Khatri, Rajeev Samant, Vicky Goswami and Nicolo Morea. And looking happy indeed was Saffron Bay owner Ravi Sharma.

A night to remember ight-clubbers rejoiced at the launch of Ren by China Garden.

Host Eddie Wang was there to say hello to the many guests who checked out his chic, classy and contemporary nightspot in Khar. Guests discovered the club’s ambience that reflects contemporary styling with a delightful décor and a 30-foot-long bar. Amidst the 2,000 sq ft space, guests experienced state-of-the-art music and lighting, while they imbibed premium spirits, beers and wines at the bar. Joining in the celebration were familiar faces like Shamita Shetty, Sushama Reddy, Kim Sharma, Shazahn Padamsee, Teejay Siddhu, Karanvir Bohra, Nina Manuel and Nishka Lulla.

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Gul Panag at the Indus Pride launch at ITC Grand Central he beer cheer was on at ITC Grand Central as SAB Miller India launched Indus Pride, India’s first beer brewed with authentic Indian spices. Nosing and tasting connoisseur Sandeep Arora was in attendance to showcase the four variants of the brew – Citrusy Coriander, Citrusy Cardamom, Spicy Fennel and Fiery Cinnamon, while Manjit Gill, corporate chef, ITC Hotels tapped into the sensorial experiences of the many guests like Gul Panag, Atul Kasbekar, Angad Bedi, Farah Khan Ali, Babita Malkani, Nina Manuel and Evelyn Sharma.

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Ravi Sharma and Dino Morea at the launch of Saffron Bay September 16-30, 2012

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Kim Sharma at the launch of Ren by China Garden EXPRESS HOSPITALITY

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Chef challenge

Fusion mix

(L-R) Ace designer Stephano Canali, Direttore Generale, CANALI, with Pankaj Sampat, GM, Vivanta by Taj President and Etherington-Judge, Diageo Reserve brand ambassador at the launch of Vivanta Fuse 2.0 signature cocktails in association with Diageo

Students of hotel management institutes from Delhi/NCR region participated in a chef competition organised by Amity School of Hospitality in association with Nestle India

Exemplary contribution

New benchmarks

(L-R): Sandeep Pushkarna, assistant vice president – business development, Lavasa Corporation; John McKelvey, manager- international business unit, SCIT; Nathan Andrews, executive VP, Lavasa Corporation and Rony Kurien, dean – administration, Ecole Hoteliere Lavasa at the signing of an agreement

Dr Jyotsna Suri, chairperson and MD, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group was recently conferred with the ‘Hall of Fame award 2012’ by Prithviraj Chavan, CM, Maharashtra at the 28th IATO Annual Convention held at NCPA, Mumbai

Token of gratitude Testing innovation

The Gateway Hotels’ Red Hot Chef contest launched in January 2012 which tests The Gateway chefs and commis on their skills from hygiene to knowledge of ingredients, recently crowned a winner - Chef N Ramachandran of Gateway Hotel Coonoor

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Vincent Gere, Director, Remy Martin Estates and Oenology gifting customised Louis XIII miniature to Capt CP Nair, chairman, The Leela Group September 16-30, 2012

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