Hi 01 03 2018 by Itp India

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Volume 10 | Issue 2 |March 2018 | `50

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SPOTLIGHT ON AUDIO SYSTEMS

DEVELOPER FOCUS WHATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S IN THE PIPELINE?

THE HIGH FIVE

IN ITS NEW AVATAR, HOTELIVATE IS REASSERTING ITSELF AS A FORMIDABLE HOSPITALITY CONSULTANCY FORCE Published by ITP Media (India)

VIEWPOINT

A COHESIVE CULTURE

Vinita Bhatia

Rashmi Naicker

Manav Thadani is no stranger to challenges. In 1997, he started HVS India’s operations as a one-man show when hospitality consultants were mostly sought after to prepare independent reports for project funding purposes. He worked hard to get his clients to understand that consultants could offer a lot more, including in-depth research, quality data on markets, devise entry strategies, perform management contract negotiations and conduct transactions. Along the way, he handpicked a team of some of the finest people in the industry, and built a strong corporate culture that encouraged ownership. This took time, focus and patience, but, as Thadani has realised, it was worth the effort. When he decided to part ways with HVS and start Hotelivate, this core team, comprising Megha Tuli, Natwar Nagar, Achin Khanna and Saurabh Gupta, followed him. In our cover story, Thadani outlines how focusing on the human element has worked well for him, not just within his company, but also in the industry. Over the past two decades, he has preferred to work closely with people and build relationships, which is helping him position Hotelivate as a feasibility and valuation firm, and one that will play a strategic role in different phases of an assets’ lifecycle – be it feasibility, valuation, executive search or asset management. In this issue, we also explore how the increasing room supply in newer markets is creating opportunities for all players. However, astute developers continue to evaluate development value versus costs, rather than merely going by a brand’s value while planning investment. You can read more in the ‘Developers Special’ section. When it comes to hotel operations and services, hoteliers are realising how soothing music can transport guests into a happy place, while piped songs can often be a turn-off. In the ‘Technology’ column we learn how hoteliers are investing in sound solutions that are practical and cost-efficient. Similarly, with bathrooms becoming an increasing focal point, architects, designers and hoteliers are joining forces to create spaces that enhance the overall look and feel of guest rooms. The idea is to design bathrooms that ensure a guest’s safety, comfort and functionality. These are just some of the articles in this power-packed March edition. There are other surprises in store these pages. Until next time!

March 2018 | Volume 10 | Issue 02 ITP MEDIA (INDIA) PVT LTD 898 Turner Road, Notan Plaza, 3rd floor, Bandra (West), Mumbai - 400050. Maharashtra, India T +91 22 6154 6000 Deputy managing director S Saikumar Group publishing director Bibhor Srivastava

EDITORIAL Editor Vinita Bhatia T +91 22 6154 6039 vinita.bhatia@itp.com Deputy editor Rashmi Naicker T +91 22 6154 6041 rashmi.naicker@itp.com ADVERTISING INDIA Director Gurmeet Sachdev T +91 9987 208866 gurmeet.sachdev@itp.com South India Director Sanjay Bhan T +91 9845 722377 sanjay.bhan@itp.com Sales manager - North Vipin Yadav T+91 9999 885515 vipin.yadav@itp.com STUDIO Head of design Milind Patil Senior designer Vinod Shinde Contributor Saili Bandre PRODUCTION Deputy production manager Ramesh Kumar ramesh.kumar@itp.com CIRCULATION Distribution manager James D’Souza T +91 22 6154 6001 james.dsouza@itp.com Cover image: FrozenPic Disclaimer The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for error or omissions contained in this publication, however caused. The opinions and views contained in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Readers are advised to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication, which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the readers’ particular circumstances. The ownership of trademarks is acknowledged. No part of this publication or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the permission of the publishers in writing. An exemption is hereby granted for extracts used for the purpose of fair review. Subscription is subject to scrutiny. Subscription is limited to hospitality professionals above 18 years of age.

Vinita Bhatia Editor vinita.bhatia@itp.com

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WRITE TO THE EDITOR Please address your letters to: The Editor, Hotelier India, 898 Notan Plaza, 3rd Floor, Turner Road, Bandra (West), Mumbai - 400050 or email vinita.bhatia@itp.com. Please provide your full name and address, stating clearly if you do not wish us to print them. Alternatively, log on to www.hotelierindia.com and air your views. The opinions expressed in this section are of particular individuals and are in no way a reflection of the publisher’s views.

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

ADVISORY BOARD Our distinguished advisory board has been assembled to help guide Hotelier India to become even more representative of its community. Members have been invited from the highest levels of the industry to ensure that the magazine continues on its path of success.

ANSHU SARIN

CEO, Berggruen Hotels

DILIP PURI

Founder and CEO, Indian School of Hospitality

DIPAK HAKSAR

Chief executive, ITC Hotels

FARHAT JAMAL

Senior VP, Operations (West) Taj Hotels Palaces Resorts Safaris

JEAN-MICHEL CASSE

COO-India and South Asia, AccorHotels

MANAV THADANI

Founder-chairman, Hotelivate

ANIL MADHOK

Executive chairman, Sarovar Hotels and Resorts

NAVJIT AHLUWALIA

NEERAJ GOVIL

Senior VP and Country Head, Hilton India

Area VP-South Asia, Marriott International

NIRUPA SHANKAR

PARAM KANNAMPILLY

PRABHAT VERMA

Senior VP, Operations (South) Taj Hotels Palaces Resorts Safaris

PRASHANTH AROOR

RAHUL PANDIT

RAJ RANA

RAJIV KAUL

RANJIT BATRA

CMD, Concept Hospitality

RATTAN KESWANI

ROHIT KHOSLA

SATYEN JAIN

SOUVAGYA MOHAPATRA Executive director, Mayfair Hotels & Resorts Limited

VIJAY THACKER

VIMAL SINGH

VIVEK BHALLA

SARBENDRA SARKAR

Director, Brigade Hospitality

Senior VP, Operations (North), Taj Deputy MD, The Lemon Tree Hotel Company and Chairman, Hotels Palaces Resorts Safaris Carnation Hotels

CEO, Pride Hotels

CEO and MD, Intellistay Hotels

MD and CEO, Roots Corporation Ltd (Ginger Hotels)

Director, Horwath India

CEO, South Asia, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group

MD-South Asia, Golden Tulip Hotels & Resorts/Louvre Hotels Group

President, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts

Regional VP, South West Asia, InterContinental Hotels Group

President - Hospitality, Panchshil Realty

MD and Founder Cygnett Hotels & Resorts

CONTENTS

THE HIGH FIVE

IN ITS NEW AVATAR, HOTELIVATE IS REASSERTING ITSELF AS A FORMIDABLE HOSPITALITY CONSULTANCY FORCE

BULLETIN IHCL'S DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY TILL 2022, WYNDHAM HOTEL GROUP PLANS TO DEVELOP 20 HOTELS WITHIN A DECADE, AND MUCH MORE...

GM'S DIARY TRANSIT HOTELS ARE A BOON FOR FLIERS. HOWEVER, MANAGING IT, WITH THE NUMEROUS STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED, IS QUITE A CHALLENGE

OPS & SERVICES - TECHNOLOGY GOOD QUALITY AUDIO SYSTEMS IN HOTELS, WHETHER IN OPEN SPACES OR GUEST ROOMS, IS A SURE SHOT WAY TO AUGMENT OVERALL GUEST EXPERIENCE

INDUSTRY SPEAK - PROCUREMENT HEADS PROCUREMENT PROFESSIONALS SHARE THEIR CORE STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING SUPPLY-CHAIN EXPENSES

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

BULLETIN

N EWSM A K ERS A R O U N D-U P O F H O T E L S A N D H O T E L I E R S M A K I N G H E A D L I N E S

IHCL TO CONCENTRATE ON PROFITABILITY AND SERVICE EXCELLENCE IHCL, said, “We will employ this strategy to improve our margins. By undertaking these initiatives, I expect 3% to 4% margin improvement would come from revenue enhancement, while cost efficiency measures that we undertake will contribute another 3% to 5%. We also want to focus on improving RevPAR in the domestic market (which is 84% of the company’s business) and bring it to the 2007-08 levels, when rates were truly viable.” Having reduced its debt levels to INR 3,560 crore, IHCL, which has $1.2 billion in revenue, has set its sights firmly on improving profitability. The ‘Aspiration 2022’ strategy, therefore, concentrates largely on increasing revenue by ensuring better margins while keeping a tight rein on costs. Opting out of the mono-brand architecture that was announced by erstwhile MD and CEO Rakesh Sarna, IHCL has now decided to go for a multi-brand strategy and will scale up operations under three brands – Taj, Vivanta and Ginger. Currently, the hotel’s inventory comprises 16,992 keys of which 25% each are management contracts and holding company associations, while the remainder are group companies. This year, Chhatwal revealed that IHCL will adopt an asset-light strat-

STAT ATTACK • Revenue grows 6% in Q3 FY18 at INR 1,217 crore • Growth in EBITDA is up 7% at INR 300 crore Y-o-Y • 16% growth in Profit After Tax at INR 108 crore Y-o-Y

Bulletin

Story of the month

Puneet Chhatwal, MD and CEO, Indian Hotels Company Ltd.

he Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) has outlined a development strategy to drive its inventory growth in line with its five-year programme, titled ‘Aspiration 2022’. Riding on its strong performance in Q3 2018, the hospitality chain has come up with a three-pronged strategy to reach EBITDA margins of 25% in the next five years (currently it is at 17%). These initiatives are broadly classified as three ‘R’s – Reengineering (margins, technology and people), Re-structuring (scale, simplification and selling) and Re-imagining (service, brandscape and portfolio). Elaborating on this, Puneet Chhatwal, the newly-appointed MD and CEO of

egy where it will engage more into management of new properties, rather than owning them. He added that approximately 60% of the new additions will be under the management model. Last year was a busy one for IHCL where it added and upgraded over 1,300 rooms including to its flagship hotel Taj Mahal Palace Mumbai. Renovations at other hotels including Taj Lands’ End, Mumbai, Taj Bengal Kolkata, Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Goa and Taj Fort Aguada Resort & Spa, Goa were also completed. Chhatwal stated, “For the third quarter, our company demonstrated a good performance through enhanced revenues and cost optimisation measures. During the year, we added inventory and upgraded several properties in line with our efforts to consolidate our positioning of being an iconic and profitable hospitality company.” Giridhar Sanjeevi, CFO, IHCL said, “As a consequence of balance sheet management initiatives combined with the recent successful rights issue, our debt to equity ratio of the company has reduced to 0.47 and it remains our focus to support growth while containing our leverage ratios.” Last year, the company also opened six hotels (443 keys) under Ginger, in cities like Mumbai, Gurgaon, Lucknow and Gujarat. By 2022, IHCL plans to increase its room inventory to over 23,000 rooms in the luxury, mid-scale and budget categories, while strategically enhancing its geographical footprint in India and overseas.

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

BULLETIN

NEW OPENINGS

The hotel is built in collaboration with Madhav Heritage.

Debut of Radisson Jodhpur marks the brand’s foray in the city Positioned to be a preferred hotel in the leisure and business travellers, Radisson Jodhpur is situated two kilometres from the airport and four kilometres from the railway station. It is situated within a radius of five kilometres from international tourist attractions like Ummaid Palace, Birkha Bawri Step Well, Merangarh Fort, Ghanta Ghar and Mandore Garden. “The hotel’s architectural grandeur combined with the brand’s service ethos will enthrall guests travelling to the city. We appreciate the commitment that Madhav Heritage has made in this hotel and the trust they have demonstrated in the Radisson brand,” said Raj Rana, CEO, South Asia, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group.

Courtyard by Marriott Bengaluru Hebbal opens The Courtyard by Marriott Bengaluru Hebbal has opened in the city, which is the 15th Courtyard to open in India and the second for the brand in Bengaluru. “Bengaluru is seeing a rise in demand in the hospitality sector. Based on the success of the other Courtyard hotel in the city, we see tremendous opportunity for our new property in Hebbal,” said Mike Fulkerson, VP, brand and marketing, Asia-Pacific, Marriott International. The hotel features 188 guestrooms and has up to 8,850 square feet of flexible meeting and banquet spaces. It has a roof top infinity pool, fitness centre and spa to keep guests rejuvenated during their stay. The hotel also presents the Nazaara the rooftop restaurant that serves North-West Indian cuisine, The Hebbal Café with interactive cooking stations serves, both, international and regional fare.

WYNDHAM HOTEL GROUP TO DEVELOP 20 HOTELS WITHIN A DECADE IN INDIA

yndham Hotel Group, which has over than 8,100 hotels in 78 countries, has expanded its footprint in India and neighbouring countries with the opening of 11 new hotels in 2017. In addition, Wyndham Hotel Group expanded its pipeline of new hotels in the region with 15 new signings. Twothirds of the new hotel openings were in India, re-enforcing the Group’s presence in the country’s rapidly growing midmarket hospitality segment. As part of the new deals, Wyndham Hotel Group also signed a non-exclusive development agreement with Ahmedabad-based

Wyndham Hotel Group’s newest hotels in India include:

Deepika Arora, regional VP, Eurasia, Wyndham Hotel Group.

• Howard Johnson Kolkata (West Bengal): This 90-room hotel in Kolkata is the second one under the Howard Johnson brand in India, after the first one in Bengaluru. The third hotel will open in Lonavala this year. • Ramada Darjeeling Gandhi Road (West Bengal): This 62-room hotel marks Wyndham Hotel Group’s entry into hill stations. The opening of Ramada Kasauli will follow, this year. • Ramada Dehradun Chakrata Road (Uttarakhand): Located at the foothills of the Himalayas, this 52-room hotel offers business and leisure travellers with five restaurants, a spa and banquet space. • Ramada Jammu City Centre (Jammu and Kashmir): This 88-room hotel provides accommodation and amenities to business and pilgrim travellers. • Ramada Plaza Chennai (Tamil Nadu): The 135-room hotel provides easy access to the international airport, the Chennai Trade Centre and the IT park.

Nebula Infraspace LLP, to develop at least 20 hotels with 1,600 rooms over a period of 10 years across India under the Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham brand, which is the Group’s extended-stay brand. The first Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham hotel will open in Dwarka. This expansion in India is a part of Wyndham Hotel Group’s comprehensive plans to expand its footprint across the Eurasia region. “India’s hospitality industry, especially the mid-market segment, is thriving from strong growth in domestic travel, foreign tourists, as well as a booming airline industry supported by government-led initiatives. Our goal is to ensure that wherever across India or the region travellers want to go, they will find a Wyndham hotel to meet their needs and their budget,” said Deepika Arora, Wyndham Hotel Group’s regional VP, Eurasia. FORM IV

(Statement about ownership and other particulars about the newspaper/magazine HOTELIER INDIA to be published in the first issue every year after the last day of February) Name of the Publication: HOTELIER INDIA Periodicity of the publication/ Language: Monthly/English Printer’s Name: Saikumar Shanmugam Nationality: Indian (i) Whether Citizen of India: Yes (ii) If a foreigner, country of origin: Not applicable Address: Notan Plaza, 3rd Floor, 898, Turner Road, Bandra (W), Mumbai- 400 050, Maharashtra Publisher’s Name: Saikumar Shanmugam Nationality: Indian (i) Whether Citizen of India: Yes

(ii) If a foreigner, country of origin: Not applicable Address: Notan Plaza, 3rd Floor, 898, Turner Road, Bandra (W), Mumbai- 400 050, Maharashtra. Editor’s Name: Vinita Bhatia Nationality: Indian (i) Whether Citizen of India: Yes (ii) If a foreigner, country of origin: Not applicable Address : Notan Plaza, 3rd Floor, 898, Turner Road, Bandra (W), Mumbai- 400 050, Maharashtra. Name and address of the individuals who own the newspaper/magazine and partners or shareholders holding more than one percent of the total capital. ITP Media (India) Pvt Ltd., ITP Holdings Inc, PO Box 500024, Dubai, U.A.E.

I, Saikumar Shanmugam, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. Date: February 28, 2018

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

Saikumar Shanmugam Signature of the publisher

GM’S DAIRY ARYA RANA

IN TRANSIT

Transit hotels are a boon for fliers facing lengthy layovers or delayed flights. However, managing it, with the numerous stakeholders involved, is quite a challenge BY VINITA BHATIA

ost of us have been there – faced with the prospect of a lengthy layover or a delayed flight, we either made ourselves as comfortable as possible on one of the chairs in the airport waiting area, or prepared to down cups of coffee in the coffee shop to while away the time. The endresult, most often than not, was exhaustion and irritation. Transit hotels came as a boon in this scenario, especially in busy airports, giving travellers the opportunity to check in, rest, freshen up, grab a meal and even work out – a lot like conventional hotels. And the best part is that they did not even have to leave the airport premises, going through the hassles of immigration if they were in an international airport.

Currently, two of India’s busiest aviation hubs boast of transit hotels; Niranta at the Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport Terminal 2 and Holiday Inn Express at New Delhi International Airport Terminal 3 (HIEX). But as is the case with any transit hotels, there are various internal and external stakeholders involved in its operations. For HIEX, these include airport authorities who supervise the security and maintenance of the New Delhi T3 terminal as well as hotel staff who are responsible for delivering a top-notch experience that its guests are accustomed to. In fact, for the model of a transit hotel to work, it is important to maintain strong communications with, and actively involve, all these stakeholders to ease the guest journey to the establishment, without interrupting security protocols.

Talking about this, Arya SJB Rana, general manager, HIEX explained, “Our airport representatives have a strong presence at the terminal and know the best procedures to follow while escorting guests to our property. In addition to the amenities available at the hotel, our guests have always appreciated the hospitality extended by our representatives from the moment they arrive, which makes their stay even more comfortable.” OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES When weary travellers get off a plane after a long-haul flight, it can be challenging for them to navigate their way to a transit hotel after arriving at the airport, especially in airports spread over a wide area. Additionally, in the current atmosphere of heightened threats, they have to follow strict security protocols before

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

GM’S DAIRY ARYA RANA

reaching the property, which at times can be exasperating. To overcome this challenge, the HIEX team ensures that guests are informed about all security regulations through its website, reservation emails and social media channels. Additionally, the hotel helpdesks and hotlines are strategically placed in key locations at the airport, so that the guest can contact them directly. “Once the guest arrives at the hotel, we ensure that their primary needs of comfortable accommodation are taken care of. We also offer a range of culinary and leisure options, such as a fitness centre and a spa. Being in a high security location limits our options for emergency purchases. Therefore, we ensure that we are organised and efficient to stay consistently well-stocked with supplies to cater to our guests needs,” Rana stated. Having worked with the property for three years, he has learned one important rule integral to operating a transit hotel successfully – always have continuous collaboration with the security agencies at the airport. He gives a pragmatic reason for it – it is important to understand that security protocols are in place to protect travellers against any unlawful interference and these procedures safeguard the guests as well as the hotel team. At the same time, tired and sleep-deprived guests wanting to check in after a long flight might not take too kindly to the numerous security checks before they get their room key. How does the hotel staff then deal with frayed nerves from both ends – that of the guest and the security personnel?

Dynamics of a transit hotel The world over, transit hotels have facilities similar to a conventional select-service property. That these short-stay hotels are located within the security checks areas in airports means that travellers can disembark from a plane to check into a room between flights, which explains why they command high room rates. However, these hotels urge guests to also book directly on their sites, since they cater to lots of walk-in guests and room availability is provisional.

Arya Rana, general manager, Holiday Inn Express New Delhi International Airport Terminal 3. Rana explained, “We encourage all our guests to provide us with their flight details so we can arrange for a hotel representative to meet them at the Aero gate and bring them swiftly to the property. Since our representatives know the security protocols well, they are able to assist guests will all requisite formalities while escorting them. This saves guests the hassle of going through multiple processes.” PEOPLE STRENGTH World over, the ARRs at transit hotels are often lower than regular hotels as passengers book them for few hours (usually they have to book it for a minimum of 10 hours). And these hotels urge guests to also book directly on their sites, since they cater to lots of walk-in guests and room availability is provisional. In order to maintain visibility amongst the relevant audiences, i.e. fliers facing a delayed flight or with lengthy layover, HIEX has ensured strategic placement of manned hotel desks/helplines inside the New Delhi airport. “There are hotlines in visitor lounges, and most importantly, we ensure that all the security agencies at the airport are briefed to direct guests to our hotel help desk in case any guests enquiring about a transit hotel inside the airport,” Rana added. The HIEX has 93 guest rooms and has team strength of 80 members. Being a

unique hotel in a high-security zone, its employees are its strength and hence, the company continually invests in them with requisite training to be able to handle all stakeholders in the business. “We ensure that every team member is well equipped with all the necessary support, knowledge and tools to perform their work efficiently,” Rana elaborated. “In addition to above, we motivate our team members by regularly recognising their efforts individually or as a team. IHG has dedicated a week to celebrating our employees on an annual basis, called ‘Celebrate Service Week’. We also have an HR calendar to encourage team interactions and activities.” The world over, transit hotels are making long trips endurable, especially since they now have facilities similar to a select service conventional hotel. That these short-stay hotels are within the security checks areas in airports means that travellers can disembark from a plane and check into a room to sleep between flights, which explains why some are begining to command high room rates. Does this mean that India is ready for more transit hotels, given the boom that the airport sector is witnessing? Well, your guess is as good as ours! IHG, for one, has already claimed that The Holiday Inn Express brand is well suited to this kind of vertical and it is open to exploring further opportunities. HI

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

COVER STORY

THE HIGH FIVE

In its new avatar, Hotelivate is reasserting itself as a formidable hospitality consultancy force BY VINITA BHATIA

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

COVER STORY

PHOTOGRAPHS: FROZENPIC

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

hroughout his career, Manav Thadani has never shied away from taking up new challenges. After starting his consulting career at HVS’ New York office, he returned to India in August 1997 to set up the company’s base in the country. From a one-man unit, he expanded HVS Asia Pacific’s operations into multiple verticals, including asset management and executive search and the HICSA conference. He was able to achieve these milestones with the help of a strong team that he handpicked along the way. This included the young Megha Tuli who chose HVS South Asia as the starting point in her career and grew through the ranks to become the youngest associate director of consulting and valuation. Natwar Nagar set up the executive search practice in India, while Achin Khanna extended his enviable consulting experience, which encompassed economic feasibility analyses, asset and large portfolio valuations, operator searches and management contract negotiations, master planning and strategic consulting assignments. Another strong member of Thadani’s team is Saurabh Gupta who took charge of investment advisory and asset management practices in the firm. However, as the years progressed, there arose a difference of vision and opinion between HVS and the team in India on how the business should grow in the Asia Pacific region. “There were too many limitations on how the India office could expand beyond South Asia. Our team, while being the most stable and with the highest marketshare among all offices across all regions, was unable to break free,” Thadani recalled.

COVER STORY

Hotelivate is positioning itself as a one-stop consultancy for a range of industry stakeholders, providing end-to-end services across all phases of hospitality lifecycle consulting.

He felt that the new leadership in HVS did not understand Asian markets and how business functions here. A need for more transparent and updated financial models for consulting was felt, and after much deliberation, the senior team in India chose to part ways with HVS. This was not an easy decision for Thadani, who had been associated with the company for two decades. But he maintained that in life one has to believe in the things one does, otherwise they are not worth doing. “The shelf life with HVS had expired and it was time to move on to more innovative things, explore new territories and cross new borders,” he pragamatically stated. KEEPING PACE WITH CHANGE

Two decades ago, the hotel consulting business was highly fragmented with many independent hospitality consultants (mostly retired GMs) working alongside a few organised firms to help owners manage their assets. Some of the known brands

HOTELIVATE’S CORE SERVICE OFFERINGS • Strategic Advisory, led by Achin Khanna, includes market and feasibility studies, operator search and management contract negotiations, asset and portfolio valuations, and master planning and strategic consulting. • Executive Search, led by Natwar Nagar, offers leadership advisory with senior-level executive search, midmanagement recruitment and compensation consulting as practice areas. • Professional Skills Development, led by Andrew Ryder, provides learning and development interventions through open workshops, customised modules and ongoing training of professionals in the services sector. • Investment Advisory, led by Saurabh Gupta, encompasses buy-side and sell-side activities for existing and proposed hotel assets, in addition to financing arrangements for debt and equity capital for hotel real estate. • Asset Management and Revenue Management Consulting are also directed by Saurabh Gupta. The former helps with balancing hotel operations with the financial objectives of the owner/investor by conducting periodic asset performance reviews, full-scale asset management and/or owner representation. In addition, Hotelivate offers strategic and operational-level revenue management support through a series of activities including business mix optimisation, pricing strategies, forecasting models, online channel management and distribution management. • Project Execution, Planning and Advisory is managed by Megha Tuli and we have a strategic alliance with Ascentis for the same. Hotelivate provides guidance and leadership throughout the initial development stages of a hotel project including the design brief, consultant contracting, alignment of project objectives, and development of the project execution plan.

were Tourism Futures, PKF and Horwath, but the role of consultants was often relegated to creating independent third-party reports required for project funding purposes. Over the years, as the profile of investors became more sophisticated, primarily due to the advent of private

equity firms, the clientele also diversified. People sought consultants for varied reasons – in-depth research, quality data on markets, to devise entry strategies, perform management contract negotiations and conduct transactions, among others. “Our clients realised that apart

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

COVER STORY

from a law firm, they needed experts and professionals from the industry to help them make decisions on hospitality projects. Thus, our role as hospitality advisors became more holistic,” Thadani recalled. “We worked hard as a team to move up to the number one position in the country in terms of both completed assignments and revenues. What differentiated us from the rest was our emphasis on the quality of service, which in turn was only possible because we hired the right talent.” THE DREAM TEAM

Manav Thadani, founder-chairman, Hotelivate.

Down Memory Lane Most successful businesses are built on the principle of adopting the one-step-at-a-time approach, which takes some time for the establishment to gain ground. Luckily for Manav Thadani, over the past two decades, he has become a trusted advisor for numerous hotel brands, as well as several hotel development team members in the region and shares a bond that is built on mutual trust and admiration. To foster this faith amongst his peers, Thadani knew he had to be authoritative on the subject of valuations and feasibilities, which explained the publishing of numerous articles and research papers on the topic. However, in the end, it was the credibility of those reports that finally. “Imagine the thrill and satisfaction of doing a valuation for the same project five years after having completed a feasibility for it and realising that we were not too far off in our projections, or to have one of the first hotel transactions in India (Hotel Taj Lands End today) take place within 95th percentile of the valuation we had arrived at. Thus, the benefits of quality research and experience were apparent in these instances and other similar success stories – our work and positive results spoke for themselves,” Thadani satisfactorily claimed. One of his fondest memories of an assignment dates 1998, when having finished two feasibilities for The Oberoi Group, he was on Biki Oberoi’s private jet having a conversation on budget and mid-market hotels as the future of the industry. To his delight, he was able to convince the grand old man of hospitality him to at least look at the segment and was later packed off to do a countrywide study for The Oberoi Group. Much to Thadani’s disappointment, the company never followed up on his recommendation to launch a third brand targeting the budget-mid market segment. “However, I do know that the report has been referred to internally within the group a few times, as recently as three to four years ago,” he added. Another big disappointment came when Thadani had a signed board-approved letter to assist with the purchase of a luxury hotel in India – it would have been the biggest transaction in the country’s history. However, when the offer came, he did not push my clients enough to get on a plane and meet the potential buyers in Hong Kong. It goes without saying that had it gone through, the deal would have changed his fortunes and those of the chain in question.

When Thadani discussed his plans for creating a customer-centric value-based consultancy organisation with his core team at HVS, he got enthusiastic buy-in from all of them. Recalling her discussions with him on the need for consulting businesses to evolve, Tuli said that she could not see any single firm doing so within the travel and tourism sector. “Manav was also facing limitations on strategy and growth with the previous firm and I, having just exited from my first entrepreneurial venture, was eager to bring a real-world and forward-looking approach to consulting. It was the right time to build a firm that was agile, pertinent and unwilling to offer recommendations made in boardroom ‘black boxes’,” she said, while explaining her decision to come on board Hotelivate as partner and co-founder. Nagar, who is currently managing partner, executive search, Hotelivate, was hired by Thadani 18 years ago and today, is more popular than anyone else in the team, “including myself,” Thadani ironically exclaimed. He apparently knows something about everyone in the industry in India; be it a hospitality CEO or a hotel HOD; they all have him on their rolodex! Similarly, Khanna and Thadani go back a little over 10 years in their professional careers. Another favourite within his team, and a Superman buff, he brings similar superhero qualities to the job. He first worked with Thadani as a consulting associate at HVS in 2007, when he moved back to India after spending

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COVER STORY

a decade with various hotel companies in the US. “Over the past years, I had the opportunity to work on hundreds of feasibility studies and valuations across more than a dozen countries and over 100 towns and cities. From mega master-planning assignments to detailed portfolio valuations, from heated management contract negotiations to innovative hotel feasibility projects in remote destinations, it has been a pleasure to learn and grow with Thadani,” Khanna said. Gupta started off as a search consultant at HVS, became a founding member of HICSA in 2005, and then a director in consulting before going back into operations and development only to return home to the larger team. Today, he heads two key verticals at Hotelivate – asset management and investment advisory. In Gupta’s opinion, Hotelivate has the agility of a start-up with the delivery mechanism of a stalwart. “They say, in life, you don’t get to choose your colleagues. That's not true in my case, where I have chosen some very fine people and thorough professionals as my partners. The spirit of entrepreneurship pushes us daily and this common sense of purpose within Hotelivate is what I truly cherish,” he happily stated. NEW POSSIBILITIES

Thadani, with his band of trusty team mates, formed Hotelivate in December 2017 with an aim to offer customised, curated solutions to hospitality and tourism customers in Asia Pacific. This is a pretty ambitious task, but Thadani is undaunted. His conviction is rooted in his credo of spending quality time with clients rather than submitting template reports, which simply do not work anymore. “When people think of Hotelivate, we want them to stop seeing us as a mere feasibility and valuation firm. After all, we are the team that helped deliver nearly 500 hotels in South Asia and played a strategic role in different phases of the assets’ lifecycle – be it feasibility, valuation, executive search, marketing com-

munications or asset management,” Thadani emphatically stated. While others talk about client satisfaction, Hotelivate has drawn up a plan to put talk into action. And it knows that following this action plan, for every 10 assignments it signs on, it will probably tell at least two to three owners not to develop the hotel. The core team is banking on this group of clients to become their best patrons, as they have probably saved them huge capital investments in projects that simply did not have the right characteristics. “While we may shatter dreams and sometimes egos, we do it in a manner that allows us to retain strong friendships and relationships in the industry. Our referral business is actually highest from this group of clients, as they truly see us as their trusted advisors,” Thadani said. WALKING THE TALK

Currently, Hotelivate is positioning itself as a one-stop consultancy for a range of industry stakeholders, providing thorough services across all phases of hospitality lifecycle consulting. This involves advising client right from the inception of a project to its opening, and eventually its divestment. This eliminates the need to engage different advisors for a single project or even multiple ones. “Hotelivate offers a spectrum of core services encompassing strategic advisory (feasibility studies, operator search and contract negotiations, master planning, and valuation); project execution, planning and advisory; executive search; investment advisory; asset management; professional skills development; and revenue management, in addition to F&B consulting and marketing communications through our strategic alliances. Moreover, unlike generic and asset-agnostic consulting firms with cookie-cutter deliverables, we offer empathetic, customised and tangible solutions for each assignment that we undertake,” Thadani elaborated. GETTING DOWN TO BRASS TACKS

Hotelivate’s team has a clear focus

– cultivate the firm into a total service provider with processled solutions. Tuli elaborated that the most important change for them is greater flexibility in their delivery models. Hence, they are emphasising on two key areas, digital adaptation and producing interdependent advisory solutions. “We are investing in, and using, digital resources and platforms to develop new, flexible delivery models on the back of better (and big) data and insight. Internally too, we are using technology to supplement front-end needs with back-end knowledge and simplify workflows, data structures and systems,” she added. Additionally, although most industries are moving towards modularisation of products and services, consultants straddle multiple areas within hospitality and create deliverables that are hard to duplicate. This positions Hotelivate with a unique understanding of the client’s business and ability to solve symbiotic problems faced by the client. When it comes to executive search, Hotelivate is presently working on setting new benchmarks for the restaurant industry and collaborating with some established brands in this space. This division also serves the real estate, education and manufacturing sectors as well. “We are piloting initiatives using

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COVER STORY

technology such as video profiling of candidates, thereby, making the recruitment process faster and more efficient. We are also in advance talks to develop an online competency and assessment process to enable the internal and external stakeholders make quick decisions and improve database management,” Nagar pointed out. In his opinion, in the new world every assignment will be complex and will have different solutions. Thus, by adopting this approach at Hotelivate, the team can spend more time with its clients to understand their unique needs and offer customised solutions. At the core of every successful hotel project is a well-researched, analysed, and quantitatively as well as qualitatively assessed feasibility or valuation report. The hotel business, unlike most other asset classes, is extremely dynamic and subject to a plethora of external influences. With an aim to make ROI the primary driver to advisory, Hotelivate’s solutions are tailored to the many needs of our varied clients – hotel owners and developers, hotel brands and management companies, private equity funds and institutional capital as well as both public and private sector lenders. Khanna said that his team has, therefore, created a far more detailed and dynamic proprietary financial model for Hotelivate Strategic Advisory. “This enables us to offer a more robust and in-depth analysis of hotel markets, thereby, benefitting our clients with their consulting needs,” he added. Also, the division is conducting brand valuations in addition to asset and portfolio appraisals. Valuing a brand requires a very different skill set and its utility could be extended to other service-oriented sectors such as fine dining restaurants, QSRs, retail etc. “We are now able to offer concept-led consulting and strategic consulting, as our clients don’t just need a financial forecast. Often, their need is ‘problem discovery’ that goes beyond number crunching. Global strategic consulting firms like McKinsey, Bain, BCG etc. are the model to emulate. As Hotelivate, we shall explore the unique nuances of our clients’ businesses and our eventual goal-seek is to create opportunities for growth,” Khanna triumphantly added. Given their strong understanding of the hospitality business landscape, Thadani and team have put together a well-formulated strategy for Hotelivate. They seem all set to seize the moment, with their eyes firmly on the growing their clientele, bit by bit. HI

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DEVELOPER SPECIAL

ADAPTING TO

CHANGE

he Indian hospitality market is witnessing an upswing; increasing supply in newer markets is creating opportunities for all players in the game. While the industry witnessed the entry of new owners, what was interesting to note is how developers upped the game in a bid to adapt to evolving market conditions. Hotel chains are increasingly demonstrating their proficiency at selling their brands, since most of them have several in their portfolio. However, astute developers still evaluate development value versus costs, rather than going merely by the brandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s value. Of course, they also take a close look at the location of the property, which will ultimately play an important role in its viability. With more distressed assets likely to come up on the block, developers are also opting for acquisition of more brownfield assets. This reduces the project construction and delivery time and also the operational challenges involved therein. These are, but, some of the insights that we gathered from the leading players in the hospitality development domain. You will find a lot more in the next few pages. HI

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DEVELOPER SPECIAL

SLOW, YET STEADY ABIL Group prefers a cautious approach to development projects, waiting for each to stabilise, before moving to the next one BY VINITA BHATIA

s a prudent developer, Amit Bhosale, MD, ABIL Group, feels it is better to err on the side of caution rather than get involved in too many projects that will put pressure on the company’s finances. That explains why in the past year, it has been working on stabilising its existing properties like W Goa, St. Regis Mumbai, etc, by upgrading some facilities and changing some facets of its hotels. Bhosale has a reason for adopting this measured approach. “Our raw material remains real estate, and hotels are capital-intensive projects. Hence, I prefer to build one and let it stabilise as in their initial years, they require a lot of handholding,” he explained. Often, a developer’s costs are overrun because of delays in getting governmental approvals and towards the end of the project, the rate of interest is very high, which eats into the capital. By entering into a new project at that time, a developer can get into a vicious cycle of overexposure of capital. LENDING SUPPORT Additionally, a hotel is unlikely to make profits immediately, while loans with interest have to be repaid from year one. “Often there is that deficit in the first year and a widening gap from year two onwards. Whatever budgets one plans is on the basis of certain market assumptions. But once you start the business, even the

Amit Bhosale, MD, ABIL Group. operator realises that he might have presumed some things that might not go as per plan. Then everyone regroups to restrategise and plan,” he elaborated for his reasons on why a hotel should be allowed to become stable before a developer moves to the next project. He added that even an operating hotel constantly needs some financial support, and if this is not extended, then its quality of service will deteriorate. Hence, it is important to give it the support required before moving to the next one, Bhosale noted. Even now, though the company has a large land parcel in Navi Mumbai, Bhosale is waiting for the international airport work to take off in earnest before opening the hotel there. “This year, we can finally talk to operators, sign contracts, start planning and bring consultants on board. Once we finalise everything, we can go for environment clearance and other sanctions, which means our construction can start only middle of next year,” he said. This hotel is likely to be a 500-room property, which will take around four years to execute, since this will be a

Quick Facts • • • •

Projects executed till date: 4 Projects in pipeline: 2 Average room inventory across India: 940 Recent projects: W Goa

significantly large project. “It will be an upscale hotel, which will cater to the increased guest traffic that will result due to the upcoming airport. Additionally, Navi Mumbai is a growing market, with the proposed Trans-Harbour Link likely to come up by 2022, the area will witness a lot more economic activity. This is the captive audience that we are targeting,” Bhosale added. He is also working towards a 65-room resort in the Maldives, and is in the process of identifying the right brand to partner with for both these projects. ABIL’s business credo is clear – it won’t let an urge for rapid growth override its decisions to maintain financial stability. It would rather set a slow development pace today, considering the consequences likely to occur tomorrow. HI

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DEVELOPER SPECIAL

THE BEST RESORT

Boutique resorts are leveraging innovation for quicker problem solving and enhanced guest experiences BY VINITA BHATIA

ill a few years ago, not too many hoteliers looked at the resorts business as a viable one. But a few forward thinking industry leaders persisted, and today there is an ever-growing presence of well-performing boutique resorts across the country. One such company was Ambuja Neotia Group, which currently has a bouquet of four hotels, which includes two boutique and two upper-upscale hotels as well as four social clubs, six fine dining restaurants, a chain of Tea Junction outlets and some banquet halls. Talking about the reason why they bet on, and continue to invest in, resort properties, Harshvardhan Neotia, chairman, Ambuja Neotia Group said, “Leisure is clearly gaining traction in India, and we are seeing a lot of resorts come up in exotic locations where tourists are patronising them. Hence, I feel that boutique resorts would continue to be a major area of development as they are key experience differentiators for travellers.” FOCUS ON INNOVATION One of the advantages of being a boutique resort is that the developer has the freedom to leverage innovation before, during and even after the project goes live. This helps in quicker problem-solving and enhanced guest experiences, going a long way in building a service-oriented reputation for the brand. Understanding this, Ambuja Neotia Group has primar-

Harshvardhan Neotia, chairman, Ambuja Neotia Group. ily grown its portfolio through greenfield projects. “As a group, we place a huge focus on design and innovation that is proprietary in nature, since this is an intrinsic part of our hospitality vision,” Neotia explained. THE RIGHT COLLABORATIONS Some developers of boutique resorts are collaborating with leading hoteliers as these partnerships can help them reach out to a wider client base. For instance, Ambuja Neotia’s Kolkata hotel is operated and managed by Swissotel, which is a part of the AccorHotels. It has also recently formalised an alliance with the Taj Hotels Palaces Resorts and Safaris for its upcoming properties in Darjeeling and Sikkim. “Our room inventory currently is around 350 rooms in these four hotels, which are all in West Bengal and by 2020, we hope to add around 500 rooms. Most of these rooms will again be in West Bengal, in-

Quick Facts • • • •

Projects executed till date: 4 Projects in pipeline: 5 Average room inventory: 350 Recent projects: AltAir boutique hotel in Kolkata

cluding in some resort locations, apart from a hotel in Patna of 130 rooms and another one in Sikkim with 80 rooms,” informed Neotia. As air traffic connectivity improves connecting small towns with big cities, the number of vacationers is also increasing. This has seen the resort business get a big shot in the arm. Developers and hoteliers are keeping pace by ensuring that resorts function as full-service properties. As the rules of the resort business get rewritten, stakeholders are trying their best to stay one step ahead of the game. HI

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DEVELOPER SPECIAL

NATURAL SELECTION The distinction between selectservice and full service hotels is blurring, with the former offering similar services BY VINITA BHATIA

alk into a selectservice hotel in India and what are the amenities that a guest can usually expect? It could range from free breakfast, free WiFi, free newspaper to access to a gym or swimming pool, and sometimes even free airport transportation. Now, what amenities does a full-service hotel offer? All of the above, definitely, and a little more, with just a touch of luxury. So, the question plaguing developers and hoteliers is how can they get guests to appreciate the true concept of a select-service hotel, without going into details about the disparity between the room rates. Defining select-service hotels, HP Rama, chairman and CEO, Auro Hotels said that these offer just breakfast service, without lunch or dinner. “Most might not have a swimming pool or health club, though an upscale select-service property could have a spa. They won’t have a banquet hall, but would have a meeting room that could house around 50 people,” he added. However, he does not see scope for this model in India as here the market

HP Rama, chairman and CEO, Auro Hotels. demands are justified by real invest investment, which requires different profit centres. When it comes to select-service hotels in the US, majority of the income comes from guest rooms and very little from F&B. “On the other hand, in India, close to 40% to 50% of the revenue comes from F&B and this is a separate profit center. This justifies the cost of building an F&B outlet in a hotel where land and development costs are high. Additionally, guests too expect a hotel to have an F&B outlet,” he elaborated. CHANGE, IT IS COMING With increasing competition, hotel brands and developers want to keep enhancing guest experience at selectservice properties. And they are realising that one way of doing this is by incorporating some F&B options, which are not expensive or complex. This could be a deli, where they can grab a meal-to-go. “Globally, the definition of select-

Quick Facts • • • •

Projects executed till date: 1 in India, 45 in the US Projects in pipeline: 10 in the US Average room inventory across India: 133 Recent projects: Courtyard by Marriott Surat

service hotels is undergoing a transformation. Keeping pace with it, in the US, hotels are coming up with concepts like extended food service besides the breakfast in the morning or an interactive lobby bar. This does not affect the operational cost, but it opens up another revenue stream for them,” Rama said. Ultimately, the objective is to increase the revenue without increasing overheads. At the same time, it is about matching guest expectations when they walk into a hotel – since they might not know the nuances of a select-service or a full-service property. After all, a guest won over, is a guest owned forever. HI

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DEVELOPER SPECIAL

BUILD, FIT, GO Brigade Hospitality is testing out prefabricated construction to not just to reduce project delivery time but also create a leakage-free building BY VINITA BHATIA

refabricated constructions are not exactly news in the development community. Developers have been using bits and pieces of this technology in the hospitality industry extensively, especially when it comes to kitting out bathrooms. One reason it has found appeal in the business is because it ensures product consistency, reduces delivery time by almost half when compared to manual operations and these two factors, therefore, make it cost efficient. However, one hospitality development company is now pushing for holistic prefabricated construction in India. Brigade Hospitality is working with UAE-headquartered KEF Infra to set up a mixed-use property, comprising retail space, commercial outlets and an ibis Styles, which will be prefabricated and put together. “Everything in the hotel – from the walls to bathroom to closets – will be built by KEF in their Bangalore factory as per our specifications and will come as a block. After the units are designed and fabricated as per design, they will be transported to the site and just plugged into the structure,” informed Nirupa Shankar, director, Brigade Hospitality. While, building a hotel normally takes up to three years, KEF has assured Brigade that this assembling approach will bring the timelines down to 12 to 18 months. “If we can construct a hotel within a year and half, it changes our financial planning too, as then we are paying interest for only that period instead

Nirupa Shankar, director, Brigade Hospitality. of the usual three years. So, the entire project’s financial viability improves,” Shankar added. PLUGGING THE LEAKS For Shankar, the other big lure of opting for prefabricated buildings is KEF’s assurance that these units will be leakage-free. Leakage plagues every form of real estate, be it residential or commercial and is the biggest complaint from customers. According to Shankar, it can occur due to any of these four issues – man, method, material or machine. “While researching on this topic, I realised that we spent crores of rupees on waterproofing and yet the problem persisted, so it could not be the material issue. In India, construction is still very manual, so the machine issue gets discounted partially. Ultimately, it boils down to the man or method issue,” she stated. The reason is that construction sites use unskilled labour and it is difficult to

Quick Facts • • • •

Projects executed till date: 8 Projects in pipeline: 8 Average room inventory across India: 960 Recent projects: Holiday Inn Chennai OMR IT Expressway.

monitor the quality of their work. Herein seeps in the method issue. KEF has worked on some other projects in India, where is did suffer from leakages and Shankar is hoping that they have learnt how to control the problem from these instances. “I have told them that we are working with them because they are promising us 50% reduction in time and leakagefree building. If they can resolve this one challenge for us, it will be a gamechanger for our business,” she added. Well, it will be a game-changer for the rest of the industry too! HI

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DEVELOPER SPECIAL

CONSTANTLY LEARNING Embassy Group’s double-digit ADR growth is largely because it takes feedback from its corporate tenants while planning hospitality projects BY VINITA BHATIA

Jitu Virmani, CMD, Embassy Group.

ost experienced business veterans know the one big mantra for success – listen, listen, listen! And it is all the more important to listen to feedback from customers. This helps in using the information to improve their processes and avoid making any mistakes in the bargain. Jitu Virmani, CMD of Embassy Group used this nous before rolling out new hospitality projects under the company’s aegis. One learning he gathered since Embassy’s hospitality business commenced with the 247-key Hilton at Embassy Golf Links is that the development of hotel projects within the company’s business parks enhances the value of its parks and becomes strong enablers to its commercial office parks businesses. “We enable the hotels to establish market leadership in the space of business hotels and at the same time, the tenants are provided an elevated service within their working environment,” Virwani stated. Embassy is now working on its biggest proposed dual-branded development,

the under-construction Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn Hotel with a large convention centre at Embassy Manyata Business Park. It is also finalising another pair of dual-branded hotels at Embassy Tech Village at Outer Ring Road, Bangalore. PAYING HEED While working on both these projects, Virwani paid heed to feedback that he received from the corporate occupants who will be part of the 15 million square feet Embassy Manyata Business Park, 4 million square feet Embassy Golf Links and 3 million square feet at Embassy TechVillage. These suggestions included having two hotels at different price points, creating sufficient convention demand and ensuring that the mouth of the park is at a good location. We have adopted these learning at the 620-key Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn Hotel as well as the 500-key upscale and midscale hotels at Embassy TechVillage,” Virwani said. For its hospitality vertical, Embassy Group continues to strategically focus on building hotels, preferably as a part of

Quick Facts • • • •

Projects executed till date: 3 Projects in pipeline: 7 Average room inventory: 450 Recent projects: The 230-key Four Seasons Hotel and 105-key 105 Four Seasons Private Residences.

its mix-use developments, in each of its business parks. These are typically greenfield projects, where the management is assigned to professional hotel operators like Hilton that are known to, and preferred by, our Embassy’s tenant base. The buy-in of the tenant base is crucial for Embassy since they include many Fortune 100 multinational companies. Virwani has realised that the only way for a company to attain its peak business potential is by constantly learning, adapting and devising new ways to improve itself. Hence, he is always happy to meet Embassy’s tenants as well as hotel operators to learn to understand how he can improve his business. HI

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DEVELOPER SPECIAL

GENIUS OF COLLABORATION The highly productive collaboration between InterGlobe Hotels and AccorHotels saw 16 ibis hotels come up in India within 13 years BY VINITA BHATIA

hen a joint venture was established between InterGlobe Hotels (IGH) and AccorHotels in 2004 to develop ibis hotels across the country, the announcement did not create a lot of ripples in the country. Over the years, though IGH has been steadily working on putting ibis all over the Indian map. Currently, it has 16 operational hotels located in Gurgaon, Delhi Airport, Mumbai Airport, Navi Mumbai, Nashik, Pune, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Goa, Kochi, Chennai and Coimbatore, and plans to launch ibis Kolkata this year. This will mark the brand’s foray in East India. What more, IGH has a committed a pipeline of 23 hotels or 4,000 keys by 2022. “Our current aggregate is 2,875 rooms spread across 16 hotels in different parts of India. By 2020, IGH will have approximately 20 hotels totalling 3,700 rooms,” said JB Singh, president and CEO, InterGlobe Hotels. MARKET SEGMENTATION IGH’s primary growth strategy will be to continue focussing on tier-1 locations across the country. While it has hotels across most top cities in India, its endeavour is to have a presence in all micro-markets across these cities as well. “We are simultaneously looking at highgrowth tier-2 cities as well especially keeping our Ibis Styles product in mind, as the product profile enables building slightly larger meeting spaces than a standard

JB Singh, president and CEO, InterGlobe Hotels. ibis hotel. ARRs in tier-2 cities tend to be softer and larger meeting spaces will enable us to benefit from additional revenue through meetings, events and banqueting,” Singh explained. IGH is open to acquiring new sites via greenfield sites or existing hotels or under construction projects. Greenfield projects allow the company to have direct control over the investment enterprise, which includes control over product quality and time-to-build. These investments enable it to be consistent with the quality it delivers. It also helps it stay cost effective as it can use innovation in developing these properties. Existing hotels or under-construction sites require careful consideration especially from an ibis product standpoint. “Our requirements are very unique and the project must meet certain fixed criteria from a design standpoint for us to move ahead. We can tend to be a little flexible while considering the project for an ibis Styles development; however, the nature of the product, its location and demand supply dynamics have to compelling enough for us to move ahead with this

Quick Facts • • • •

Projects executed till date: 16 Projects in pipeline: 23 Average room inventory: 2,875 Recent projects: ibis Kochi, ibis Coimbatore, and ibis Pune in Hinjewadi.

option,” Singh stated. This is not the only success story for IGH so far. With 16 operational hotels in its portfolio, it has built robust partnerships with its vendors and suppliers enabling it to leverage costs for timely completion of projects. Also, since its JV was formed to build and grow the ibis brand in India, these hotels are near similar in each location from a product standpoint. “Retro-fitting a hotel with a new concept or upgrading certain features is quite seamless as the changes across all hotels in the portfolio will be the same,” Singh. Once the company has tested a new concept at one location, it’s a simple almost copy-paste at other locations. So far, so good! HI

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DEVELOPER SPECIAL

GOING SOLO While building a brand is challenging, Mayfair Hotels & Resorts has realised that it pays better dividends in the long run BY VINITA BHATIA

he advent of technology over the past few years has given guests a lot more choices while making their travel decisions. They check online for prices, view details, consider reviews from their peers and compare brands before making a purchase decision. Often, they give maximum preference to the brand, which underlines its importance. The significance of creating a distinctive identity is something that Mayfair Hotels & Resorts has realised over the years, and has steadily invested in. Today, it is well-established as a luxury boutique resort company with properties that are set in idyllic locations amidst natural surroundings, especially in North-East India. And it is has managed to do this without being affiliated with any reputed hotel chain. “We have not felt the need to partner with any hospitality brand till now and in the future too, we do not have any intention to tie up with a company,” informed Souvagya Mohapatra, executive director, Mayfair Hotels & Resorts. He added that Mayfair has always emphasised on operating hotels and resorts in low-rise buildings amidst dense greenery, which has become its calling card. “We presently have 10 hotels, each spread in a huge area, where most of the space is dedicated to landscaping without compromising on the room size. Hence, we have kept our inventory at every hotel a little less than average,” he stated. The company will follow this layout strategy for the three projects it has in the pipeline, at Naya Raipur, Siliguri and Kolkata, which will take its total room inventory from 550 to 1,050 by 2020.

Souvagya Mohapatra, executive director, Mayfair Hotels & Resorts. CHANGING MODELS Till date, all 10 operational Mayfair hotels are greenfield projects and even the upcoming three will fall under this category. However, Mohapatra revealed that as a part of its expansion strategy, the company has decided to venture into a franchise model and is open to management contracts without acquiring any existing hotels. “While limited-service hotels would do well in tier-2 and 3 cities where there is extensive business-related travel, it is always better to have a full service hotel at tourist destinations to cater to high net worth individuals. This will be our guiding factor when we enter into a franchise mode as an operator,” he added. Till a few years ago, developers, especially builders, were more inclined towards hotel projects as real estate investments, investing into it from their surplus corpus. Hence, they were not very concerned about issues like sustainability. Mohapatra pointed out that now with the involvement of serious investors as promoters in the hotel trade, sustainability has become a core issue. “True operational efficiency can generate healthy gross operating profit. Invest-

Quick Facts • • • •

Projects executed till date: 10 Projects in pipeline: 3 Average room inventory: 550 Recent projects: Mayfair Himalayan Spa Resort, Kalimpong

ment in relevant technology and a shift from conventional sources to renewable sources can result in healthy bottom lines,” Mohapatra stated. “It is remarkable that there is now more focus on energy conservation for reducing costs, multiskilling manpower to contain wage bills, recycling and investment to ensure statutory compliances.” These initiatives have spilled over to building transparency in client relations as well. Brands, like Mayfair, are going all out to maintain a personal connection with their guests as they have understood that this has a direct bearing on the bottomline. Once you have captured a guest’s attention, you not only have a loyal customer, but also get a brand advocate who will bring in more customers by extension. HI

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DEVELOPER SPECIAL

ENTERING THE BIG LEAGUE Busy building its own brand since 2004, MRG Hospitality & Infrastructure is now positioning itself as a serious player by liasioning with Hilton and Marriott BY PRADEEP SUVARNA

istory has proven repeatedly that the hospitality business comes naturally to people originating from Mangalore. So when K Prakash Shetty, founder and chairman, MRG Hospitality & Infrastructure, ventured into the industry in 1993 with a fine-dine restaurant, Banjara, in Bangalore, it did not raise eyebrows. Nine years later, he opened Goldfinch Hotel Bangalore, following it up with other hotels in quick succession. Today, the company has 10 properties under its aegis. Most are concentrated in southern India, though it has one in Delhi and Mumbai, each. While the majority operate under the Goldfinch brand, Shetty knew that to capture the spotlight, he had to break into the big league, which would be possible only if he was affiliated with international operators of repute. Hence, a couple of years ago, Shetty also signed an agreement with Hilton Worldwide to develop a 200-room Courtyard by Marriott in Bengaluru. It will also develop DoubleTree by Hilton, Goa besides setting up Goldfinch Hotel Vashi, Goldfinch Resort Pondicherry as well as Goldfinch properties in Chikmagalur, Madikeri and another property in Mangalore. “Our room inventory for Goldfinch properties is 344 rooms across all categories, and under our partnership with Courtyard by Marriott Hotels and DoubleTree by Hilton it is 348 keys. We aim

K Prakash Shetty, founder and chairman, MRG Hospitality & Infrastructure. to make it approximately 1000 rooms by 2020,” Shetty revealed.

Quick Facts

ACQUIRE, NOT BUILD According to Shetty, brownfield projects are more viable options as constructing a greenfield project requires more capital and time. He added that the development of the hospitality sector depends on several factors, including physical status of the accommodation along with nature of occupancy pattern, room availability and tariff. “At the same time, factors like poor infrastructure, high cost of land procurement and procurement of multiple licences act as business barriers,” he rued. When it comes to selecting brands to partner with, Shetty has realised that it is easy to be associated with those that share the same ethics and deliverables as MRG. However, global inventory and resource also play a vital role in selection. “Instead of the full-service model, we prefer the customised or limited-service. However, this could vary depending on the demographic position where the hotel will come up,” he explained.

• • • •

Projects executed till date: 10 Projects in pipeline: 5 Average room inventory: 692 Recent project: Courtyard by Marriott Hotels Bengaluru

According to him, if the new project is with a well-known brand, then it is more cost and time-consuming, given the need to empanel with its supply chain management. “There are other things that we need to be cautious about, like poor F&B conceptualisation without a proper demographic research, being over-leveraged with expensive capital and doing unnecessary experimentation,” Shetty stated. To avoid this, both partners ought to be actively involved in the project. As a hands-on entrepreneur, Shetty takes his share of decisions to ensure that all bottlenecks are removed, and also empowers his team to do the same. That, he believes, is the power behind his success. HI

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

DEVELOPER SPECIAL

RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE Seeing the potential of midsegment hotels, Prestige Group might hive its hospitality vertical into a separate business entity BY VINITA BHATIA

here is growing disruption in the hospitality industry with increasing competition, entry of newer brands, as well the inundation of new techniques and technologies, along with increasing customer expectations. At the same time, according to Zaid Sadiq, executive director, liasoning and hospitality of Prestige Group, opportunities abound in micro-markets as opposed to an overall generic demand, depending on the products, services and brands on offer. He believes that the industry is a dynamic one where clientele needs are constantly evolving and where developers have to deal with a wide spectrum of clients with varied needs. "My constant attempt is, therefore, to stay one step ahead of changing market dynamics in southern India by bringing in newer thinking and aiming to create hotels that have a modern look and feel, and match global standards of innovation, technology and service,” Sadiq said. SCOPE FOR GROWTH At the moment, there is a significant growth momentum for mid-segment hotels in the three-star and four-star categories, which, however, is quite disorganised. This is the area Prestige would like to tap, seeing its huge untapped potential. “We are looking at how to separate the hospitality vertical into a separate business segment. Prestige aims to build an inhouse hotel brand, apart from associating

Zaid Sadiq, executive director, liasoning and hospitality, Prestige Group. with international hotel chains. In the longterm, we also plan to start our own midsegment hotel brand,” Sadiq revealed. BANKING ON TECH The key trend that influences hospitality business in today’s time is seamless technology experience. Today’s customer prefers technology that helps them simplify their stay at the hotel,” said Sadiq. Prestige-owned Aloft Bengaluru Cessna Business Park, for instance, caters to tech-savvy millennials who expect a digitally advanced hotel in terms of high speed internet, smart room keys or digital conference facilities. It has a keyless feature that allows the guests to use their smartphone to check into their room using the Marriott preferred guest app. The decision to develop and measure the scalability of a limited service or a full service project depends on the combination of the location of the project, demand for a brand, current market trend and analysis of the competition in the area. It also depends on the project cost we are looking at and the return on the investment. Since hospitality is a competitive business segment, every hotel is looking to

Quick Facts • • • •

Projects executed till date: 5 Projects in pipeline: 2 Average room inventory: 800 Recent projects: Conrad Bengaluru

build on innovations to impact operational factors, depending on the scale of the project. For instance, for a luxury property, this could be increased focus on specialised F&B concepts and operations to boost revenue and profits. To attract new, as well as retain its old client base, Prestige’s hotels are working towards daily innovations, special offers and deals for corporate houses. MICE is a promising segment for driving future growth and we are looking to cater to the city’s built demand,” Sadiq added. With a plan to establish the group as a dominant presence in hospitality development across southern India, the company is scaling up its operations slowly but surely. By relying on technology, Prestige is already taking all the right steps to become a lighter and leaner company. HI

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

DEVELOPER SPECIAL

STAYING A STEP AHEAD To grow its wide hospitality portfolio, comprising hotels and restaurants,Vatika Hotels Prestige Group is planning on an IPO this year BY VINITA BHATIA

t a time when developers are investing in new properties, Vatika Hotels chose to adopt a more prudent approach. It is planning to increase the capacity of the two properties it owns – The Westin Gurgaon, New Delhi with 200 rooms and 40 additional rooms at The Westin Sohna Resort & Spa. Currently, the company has a total of 416 keys – 313 rooms at The Westin Gurgaon, New Delhi and 103 rooms at the other property. In addition to this, it has restaurants, which include Nukkadwala, Coriander Leaf, 56 Fresca and 56 Ristorante. "Nukkadwala is the newest chain of its Quick Service Restaurants, of which currently 10 are operational and four are coming up in the NCR region. We have plans to expand overseas with outlets in Dubai, London, and New York soon,” informed Deepak Uppal, executive director, Vatika Hotels. “In addition to this, we have rigorous growth plans for all our verticals and aim to issue an IPO by the third quarter of 2018.

Deepak Uppal, executive director, Vatika Hotels. VARIED PORTFOLIO Last year, Vatika Hotels was busy with the expansion of Nukkadwala at two locations in Delhi, while doing the groundwork for opening four more this year. It also increased the 56 Fresca outlet at Vatika Mindscape in Faridabad. In the nonhospitality domain, it expanded its facility management company, Vatika Business Centres, and launched two new business centers under this vertical. Talking about the trends that act as key influencers in the hospitality business, Uppal said one of the primary ones was use of the latest technology along with an innovative approach to enrich client experience at the right time. “Retainer ship and association options with brands also play equally important roles,” he stated. This is why the company chose to partner with Starwood (now Marriott International). “With the acquisition, Marriott has

Quick Facts • Projects executed till date: 2 • Average room inventory: 416

become the largest hotel group in the world, with enhanced competitive position,” he added, the benefits of which are being accrued by owners and developers as well. While Vatika has been going slow on the hotel development front, it is keen to invest in brownfield projects and is currently seeking opportunities in the market. However, ultimately, the decision will be taken considering the value it offers in the long-term. The reason for this approach is the company’s priority to be profitable, rather than just develop an enviable bouquet of brands to boast of. HI

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

CONSUMER CONNECT

Partners In Success Under the aegis of a new identity, Ilham Kadri, president and CEO, Diversey, talks about how the company is progressing ahead with innovations for the future Diversey recently embraced a new identity after its acquisition by Bain Capital. Could you shed some light about this transition? Post the deal with Bain Capital, a private equity firm, Diversey, as an entity, became a

standalone, independent company. Having a great financial sponsor, we can now focus on our core strengths – providing expert cleaning and hygiene solutions. In the past five months, we’ve already declared two acquisitions – one

is a Scandinavian company that manufactures chemical-free, sustainable cleaning pads; and the second is a UK-based company – both of which has allowed us to further strengthen and reinforce our leadership.

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

CONSUMER CONNECT

One of the key aspects of the deal was the opportunity to build a new culture that defines the purpose and identity of the company – as the leading global innovator, developer and provider of cleaning, sanitation and maintenance products, systems and services. Our new logo that represents a humming bird in the form of a lotus symbolises the two strong principles that we stand for – facilitators and agents of hygiene. With our new owners, Bain Capital, who themselves promote entrepreneurship and ownership, our operations have become more agile and adaptable.

How well has the Indian market progressed in adapting newer techniques of hygiene and sanitation? India is one of the few countries in the world that’s been showing great potential for growth. Given that it is a country that houses a population of over 1.3 billion people, there is a dire need for efficient and sustainable hygiene solutions. Also with the increased awareness about sanitation that’s being created amongst the masses through campaigns like ‘Swachh Bharat’, we are hoping to see higher penetration of our solutions. In addition to this, the influx of foreign companies and individuals settling in India has also led to the growth in demand, as they expect hygiene standards similar to the ones maintained in developed countries like UK or US. What are some of the sustainable measure undertaken by the company? Sustainability is a core part of our strategic agenda – production of sustainable solutions utilising minimal natural resources like

energy, water, etc, is our primary aim. And India is at the forefront of adopting these technologies and innovations, than any other country in the world. For example, in 2017 alone, we helped save almost 1.82 billion litres of water by deploying the use of waterless urinals, called Flush-Me-Not. Technology is an inherent part of an establishment today. How is Diversey progressing towards smarter solutions for their customers? Similar to the concept of ‘Internet of Things’, few years back, we launched a trademark called ‘Internet of Clean’. With the help of this program, people can now communicate with cleaning equipments – like scrubbers, vacuum cleaners, etc – that are installed with chips and allows them to be operated remotely. One can also update their systems from anywhere in the world without having to set it manually. We continuously analyse the data collected by them – the quantity of water or energy consumed, the total time that

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

CONSUMER CONNECT

the machines were in operation, notifications about obstructions, etc. – and help our clients make smarter decisions and improvise their operations. We also provide customised dashboard to each of our customers as per their needs and requirements. We try to thoroughly understand their day-to-day functions, the timely updates that they require, and accordingly workout a programme that systematically delivers information and data to them. Couple of years ago, we also acquired Intellibot – they are automated robots with artificial intelligence that can be used to clean large public spaces like airports, etc, without any human intervention. Another example of one such smart program is ‘Intellidish’, which helps users understand the complete operational details of a dishwasher – is the temperature is set appropriately, or is the sanitation is up to standards, the water level, detergent concentration, etc, are as per benchmark. Initially, the markets were very sceptical about deploying these automated equipments. However, in countries where labour alone accounts for 80% of the cost in maintenance, while chemical and machines are just about 2%, many companies have now realised the benefits of investing in intelligent systems as it has a direct impact on their P&L. Also, robots aid in providing consistent performance than humans when it comes to repetitive tasks in cleaning. In view of all these advantages, we now have 450 robots working, efficiently and successfully, at various facilities across the globe. R&D has always been Diversey’s strong point. What are some of the future innovations that the company is working on? Most of our future innovations mainly focus on digitisation and automation. Our aim is to help maintenance teams manage operations efficiently by continuously monitoring performance and collecting critical data. This data is then analysed and converted in to smart data that can be easily understood and actioned upon by our customers, who are then equipped to take the right decisions. Our focus on digitisation also contributes towards the other important facet that we strive for – sustainability. For example, modern applications specifically monitor the temperature and water levels in laundry systems and also help save energy by eliminating the need for hot water, which in turn increases the shelf life of the linen. The machines also consume

Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel at Dubai.

comparatively less water. In addition to the products that we offer, we also provide training programmes for housekeepers that are at par with global standards. The program not just trains them professionally, but also helps hotels retain their staff for a longer period by supporting their advancements, career progress, keeping them up-to-date with latest innovations and by instilling pride in them for their job. How is the company reaching out to the upcoming tier-2 and -3 cities in India? We have an extensive base of network across

the country that is equipped to service clients in any tier-2 or -3 city. We also launched a program called Diversey Direct – a platform that makes the usage, understanding and reach of our products much simpler. The programme is facilitated by an app that imparts knowledge about how to use our products, keeps customers connected with us for their supplies and establishes an easy distribution logistics. It works efficiently for small scale institutional customers. We are now able to reach out to clients in remotest of the locations and support them in the quickest possible way.

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QUICK CHAT

Park Regis, Goa.

THE URGENCY OF PARTNERSHIP Prince Hotelsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; acquisition of Australian operator StayWell Hospitality Group will help the conglomerate entrench its homegrown brands outside of Japan BY VINITA BHATIA

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

QUICK CHAT

Victor Osumi, managing executive officer, Prince Hotels Inc

plans to put more hotels on India’s map over the next couple of years. What are your plans for growing the Prince brand in India? Victor Osumi: Now that we are married to Staywell, it is a great opportunity for us to grow together. We want to have 250 hotels within 10 years globally. We have about 70 in the pipeline today, so, we have a long way to go. At the same time, since Prince is the largest hotel company in Japan, our priority is to increase inbound business for our properties. 250 sounds like an ambitious number! Victor Osumi: Well, it is actually 100 within Japan and 100 outside. Now, in Japan, we already have a steady pipeline and we never got into limited services. Coming to the properties in global markets, I have confidence in Simon Wan and Rohit Vig’s team, as they already have around 36 hotels coming up in the next three years.

n October 2017, many dailies carried the news about Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed conglomerate Seibu Holdings’ subsidiary, Prince Hotels’ $55-million acquiring Australian operator StayWell Hospitality Group. Next, came the announcement that Seibu Holdings was entering In-

dia since Staywell Hospitality Group already had a presence in the country. Vinita Bhatia met Victor Osumi, managing executive officer, Prince Hotels Inc along with StayWell Hospitality Group’s president and founder, Simon Wan and its regional MD, India, Rohit Vig, to understand their

In M&As, there is always an interesting tug-of-war when it comes to control between the company that has been acquired and the company that has done the acquisition. Simon Wan: Not a tug-of-war – we are in love! So, is this the honeymoon phase, then? Victor Osumi: Actually, Simon does have a wide network within and outside the industry. One of the biggest reasons for us to opt for this acquisi-

HOTELIER INDIA |MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

QUICK CHAT

Simon Wan, president and founder, StayWell Hospitality Group.

tion is because of Simon’s vast experience and the value of his team. He has Fiona Godfrey, who is an expert in sales, marketing and revenue generation and he has Rohit, who knows the development business very well. Given that you had plans to tap the growing Indian market, why did you choose an Australian company as a partner, rather an Indian brand? Victor Osumi: We are the largest hotel company in the Japan, but we realise that it can be difficult for us to operate outside the country without having an operational platform at a regional level. To do so, one needs to know the local culture, business habits, etc. That is one reason we do not see many Japanese operators outside of Japan, since they don’t have any know-how about markets outside the country. Hence, we acquired Staywell, which has better understanding of the region. While India is a very important market for us, so are Australia, Europe and South East Asia. Hence, we also wanted a company that had diverse experiences, which happened to be Staywell. They have regional offices, people with nine people in the area that would help us and they were expert in it. And we looked at – we didn’t look at other company, but if you compare other company, I think Staywell is more stable when it comes to the proper platform to each region. Rohit Vig: Staywell has actually has been in India over six years and we have a regional team operating out of Gurgaon. We opened our first In-

Park Regis Piano Bar

dian hotel, in Jaipur, in 2013, and have five operational hotels already. While we will get a lot of exposure from the team at Prince and Staywell Australia, the team that manages the operations locally is from the country. Simon Wan: From Prince’s perspective, when they made a strategic decision to expand outside of Japan, they wanted someone with multiple expertise and presence in the countries they wanted to expedite their expansion. By choosing Staywell they got a strong platform in these countries like India, China and Middle East, as we have a regional office in Middle East where our development target is as strong as India. Ditto with China and Australia, which are both mature countries. What is the network of Staywell properties in India? Rohit Vig: We have five operational hotels and we have signed 11 contracts so far, and the rest of the six are under various stages of development. Hopefully, we should opening two more this and the next over the next 18-24 months. Wasn’t your twelfth property coming up in Ahmedabad? Rohit Vig: Yes, we signed Ahmedabad as well. But there are some legal issues with the land, so we are holding it and are waiting for the licences and approvals to come in place.

Why have you set such a prudent development pace? We have always been a conservative company. Our motto is always to under promise and over deliver. We are also looking at a lot of rebranding exercises as well now; not only are we looking at newly built hotels, but at converting existing hotels and adding those to our brand. For example, the property that we recently opened in Jaipur was run by an international American operator for a long time. The pace to market after conversion was much quicker. That is interesting, as it is expected that several distressed assets are likely to be up for acquisition this year. Rohit Vig: Yes, we are looking at rebranding seriously especially in India because it takes a long time to build a hotel here, from getting approvals, licences to the actual construction period. Will you focus on metro cities or tier-1 towns? Rohit Vig: It will be combination since we now have a wide variety of brands within our group, following the Prince acquisition. So the gateway cities, like Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore, will be our key targets initially. In the North, we are present in Jaipur and Gurgaon and we are also established in Goa. We are now looking at hotels in leisure destinations

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

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all the initiatives, like visa on arrival, which our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has undertaken. If you look at the global tourism spend, we get only 0.8% share. In my opinion, if the infrastructure development in our country improves along with quality of accommodation, especially in the luxury segment, we can double that 0.8% global spend; in fact, we won’t have enough rooms! What are the yardsticks for judging profitability in the business? Do you see your room rates stabilising? Rohit Vig: RevPAR is the way of the future. Gone are those days when you actually look at average room rate and occupancy. Now you need to look at RevPAR to understand if the business is on a growth stage. Our occupancy levels from 2016 to 2017 and our budget for 2018 have all gone up. So, the RevPAR growth definitely is moving upwards and average room rates are also stabilising.

Park Regis, Goa.

like Manali and Nainital because with the domestic tourism spend increasing exponentially, 80% of hospitality business is derived from domestic travellers. Vinita Bhatia: Do you have plans to introduce all the brands in the Prince Hotels’ portfolio – The Prince, Grand Prince Hotel, Policy, Park Regis, Prince Hotel, Leisure Inn Plus, Prince Smart Inn, and Leisure Inn? Victor Osumi: At the moment, we are studying which brands will be ideal for which region. We have commissioned an external company to conduct a study and hopefully by April, we will come out with a brand best suited for India. Since Park Regis is an upscale brand and Leisure Inn is a mid-scale extended stay brand, what is the gap that Staywell will try to plug in India? Rohit Vig: It would be luxury, since we are already present in upscale and midscale. Luxury hotels offer much higher gross operating profit (GOP) margins in the country and better profitability than the economy segment. Do any of Prince Hotel’s existing brands fit the luxury bill?

Rohit Vig, regional MD, India, StayWell Hospitality Group.

Rohit Vig: As Victor said they are going through an exercise to determine which one is going to be the perfect brand for the luxury segment. Victor Osumi: It could even be a new one because all the existing brands in the Prince Hotels portfolio are used only for the domestic Japanese market right now. We are looking for perfect opportunity to start. How have the government policies affected the hospitality business? Rohit Vig: The growth of the domestic middle class as well as the spending of our economy is definitely going to increase over the next couple of years especially with

Staywell in India has always had management relationships, but is now considering getting into the franchise and maybe even the lease model. Is that correct? Rohit Vig: Besides five properties, we already have franchise agreements with other hotels. Take the instance of Park Regis Jaipur, which is a franchise hotel and has been running very successfully. For 2017, it did the best numbers under a franchise agreement in the last 18 years of operation. We offer franchise very exclusively to owners who understand the hotel business and the value of the brand. We will offer a franchise deal on an exclusive basis with partners, who are experience hoteliers and owners, and who share our vision and can add value to the brand. Are you confident that the franchisee model will thrive? Rohit Vig: As long as you have a combination of management and franchise model that comes well together, it will, because of the distribution. However, if you only adopt the franchise model, you might end up diluting your brand. HI

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

BUYER'S GUIDE

PURCHASING POWER WHIRLPOOL FORAYS INTO COMMERCIAL SEGMENT

Aron Moses, purchase manager of The Park, Bangalore feels finding quality-conscious suppliers is one of the biggest challenges

Launches dishwashers, ovens and ice makers

What is the biggest challenge in purchasing today? One of them is finding quality-conscious suppliers. While competition is increasing, consistency amongst vendors has not improved. Also, we have to keep monitoring a supplier’s performance often as the quality of their materials deteriorates with time. Sometimes to market their products, initially vendors provide good quality, but later this is not followed through. As per purchasing norms, lowering costs continues to be a primary procurement mandate. One of the main struggles procurement professionals face is maintaining cost savings year after year, even while inflation increases. Another challenge is going through the process of selecting a vendor as often their products and proposals are similar to each other.

hirlpool India has ventured into the commercial appliance segment by launching a new range of products from its European product portfolio, which includes dishwashers, ovens and ice makers. The brand has used its expertise in the home appliance sector to venture into the commercial equipment sector, leveraging its European factories and partner capabilities to launch the product in India. This launch is part of the company’s aggressive growth plans in order to expand its presence in new adjacent product categories. In phase 1, the brand introduced some products in the commercial appliance segment, such as commercial ovens, 24kg ice cube machines, heavy duty dishwashers, etc. The company’s focus is to stabilise these four categories and later expand

into other categories. The commercial appliance range is 100% imported from Europe. Whirlpool India plans to position its products against international brands already existing in India with competitive, reliable, easy to use and durable products, backed by strong after-sales service. Moreover, realising the differences between consumer durables and commercial appliances in general, Whirlpool has set up a separate division for this venture. The brand has partnered with distributors and food service consultants in India and has introduced its appliances commercially. Initially, Whirlpool’s commercial products will be available in larger cities like Chennai, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Pune and will then be expanded to other cities in a phased manner.

CMC LAUNCHES TECHLAM PORCELAIN TILES

lassic Marble Company (CMC), an Indian stone company, has launched its latest Techlam porcelain tile, Milos Bianco. The large format of the tile allows for creation of large spaces with seamless installation. Given its lightweight, it is ideal for a host of applications including floors, countertops and walls. The tiles are available in natural or bush-hammered finishes making its surface resistant and anti-slip. This means it is appropriate for installation in bathrooms as well as in kitchens. The subtle grey veining against the white background of this porcelain material makes it a good combination with deep hardwood furniture, aged gold or contemporary steel. The tiles are available in sleek dimensions of 3mm thickness and in the standard 3000mm x 1000mm format. The products are low on porosity, durable, hygienic and offer flexibility in installation.

What vendor compliance systems did you initiate for cost savings? I ensured that a master agreement is maintained for all suppliers. By purchasing slightly more products we may automatically receive a higher discount. I also saw that only one brand or type of a product is purchased, as duplication can be expensive and may invite unnecessary spending. Higher orders from one supplier lead to better discounts too. What new processes did you introduce to examine high-risk vendors? I make sure that we maintain a contract with all our vendors where high risks and audit points are mentioned clearly. This is signed by both parties and also verified. We also maintain vendor authorised relevant documents. I also demand lab testing reports to avoid unnecessary risks. Additionally, I go for regular vendor site inspections from time to time. I maintain a market survey by keeping in touch with other purchase managers too, as this helps giving some more insight.

Aron Moses, purchase manager, The Park Bangalore

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

THE WORLD PREMIERE OF WORK ON VACATION B2B Meetings

wow participants of WOV

SUCCESSFUL WOV DUBAI 2018 W

ith the Premiere of Work on Vacation at Atlantis & Anantara - The Palm, Dubai; we witnessed the evolving business relationships of our participating brands with Architects & Interior Designers from India - Southeast Asia - Middle East.

Our key vision was to ensure Relationship Building was established between all our participants. Hence, we strategized WOV with utmost detailing, ensuring multiple outlets for both formal and informal communications between the talented galore.

We are elated to share the success of WOV Dubai, where each participant has taken the WOV experience with them, from core networking during 8th to 11th February 2018.

We hosted hardcore Business to Business Meetings for our Architects & Interior Designers with Brands at Premium Palm properties, followed by fun-filled Networking Evenings at Anantaraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s private beach

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party on day one, Yacht party on day two and Desert Safari on day three. With our Work & Leisure saga, we chose rich hospitality of Dubai, to add to the luxury and the success quotient of WOV platform. Team WOV is happy to share the success of Work On Vacation with all WOV Participants, who believed in our vision and made WOV â&#x20AC;&#x201C; A WOW Experience!

OPS & SERVICES F&B

SPARKLE AND SHINE

The kitchen is a space that hoteliers are focusing on not just to ensure they make the best food but also in terms of hygiene solutions. BY BINDU GOPAL RAO

he importance of hygiene is an element that can hardly be over emphasised. In the context of hotels, this is of paramount importance and specifically a hygienic kitchen is a given. However, in order to ensure that the kitchen space is kept clean, hoteliers need to be on top of their game as far as quality of products

and efficiency of service is concerned. It is not just cleaning of the kitchen that matters, but most importantly how this is executed in practice. Food safety and sanitation is an essential part of the food industry. While it is important to be able to deliver food quickly and profitably, the importance of food safety and sanitation cannot be forgotten.

MYRIAD REQUIREMENTS

There are a variety of hygiene solutions that are used by different departments in hotel kitchens. Some of the prominent ones include labelling solutions to track FEFO/FIFO in production, contamination prevention solutions with colour specific knives and chopping boards, knife sterilisers for preventing contamination, cleaning and disinfectant

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

OPS & SERVICES F&B

Chef Rahul Dhavale, executive chef, The Westin Mumbai Garden City.

chemicals and hand washing solutions like tissue dispensers, hand washing station, hand dryers. Many hotels also use temperature and time control solutions like probe and Laser thermometers for measuring temperatures at different points, while pest control solutions are utilized for controlling pests. Personnel safety gear solutions, including disposable gloves for handling food are also required.

The market itself has a plethora of options that aid in hygiene of kitchens. GRAFF, for instance, offers a wide selection of kitchen faucets with different designs and functionalities that make them a very useful tool for daily washing operations. Its faucets are equipped with a pull out or side spray and have a revolving spout. Likewise, even flooring solutions for kitchens need to be well suited for application where a high standard of hygiene is a requirement. “The impervious surface of our flooring collections allow for easy cleaning and not letting the dirt get deep. Due to aesthetic requirements, it has been seen that most end users and designers prefer wood floors with an open grain finish,” said Satinder Chawla, MD, Span Floors. MAKING A DIFFERENCE

The key factors in maintaining hygiene include product hygiene, kitchen hygiene, store hygiene, food handling hygiene, food handler hygiene, pest control management and waste

management. “A purifying cutting board system is extremely logical device that incorporates a UV lamp, which in 20 minutes can destroy almost all of the germs that may have accumulated on the cutting boards. The right waste management system ensures the four-bin methods in kitchen which helps in proper waste segregation,” said Chef Prashant Tikadia, executive chef, Meluha The Fern. Hygiene solutions needs include cleaning and disinfecting chemicals, equipment, training and periodic performance audits. In the business of food and hospitality, hygiene plays an inevitable role. A kitchen that is lively for an entire day requires extensive cleaning routine. “Overall, it is a process that includes many steps right from receiving, preparation, production, dishwashing, pot washing and garbage areas to maintaining the cleanliness of the floors, wall tiles, exhaust system and hood. Pest control on regular intervals must done in and around

Food safety and sanitation is an essential part of the food industry.

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OPS & SERVICES F&B

It is important that hygiene solutions can perform deep cleaning so that the food quality is safeguarded.

the work area, work table-tops and drainage,” averred Sandeep Kotecha, Founder, The Kettlery.

ly from smoke from burnt fried oils, tandoor smoke, Chinese cooking range, hot plates and other flames used for cooking food. So it is extremely important that the greasy matter is treated and wiped off as soon as there is any visible trace of it anywhere in the kitchen and where necessary and needs to be disinfected as frequently as necessary,” Mamgain added.

BEING ORGANISED

Cleaning for hotel kitchen today is embedded in the food production rosters. “This means today we are totally focused on WWW factors of the cleaning plan. The first important 'W' for us is to know what space, equipment is to be cleaned, what is the equipment/that space construction material and design, the what resources are required for cleaning like water, energy (heat from fuel/ electricity) so that cleaning solutions can be selected keeping 'What' in our perspective. Second, while some task are done repeatedly throughout the day others are done at greater intervals of days, weeks, months apart. So we focus on 'When' to clean. Thirdly, depended on the frequency of the cleaning task required for the given space of kitchen or given equipment it is crucial to determine ‘Who’ will clean- a chef, a steward or the kitchen cleaner. As multiple people may be involved at different intervals for cleaning, we include very important aspect while making selection of cleaning solutions with respect to simplicity, response time, to ensure task if completed effectively to ensure safe food to our esteem guests,”

QUALITY CONTROL

Varun Sharma, F&B director, Clarks Exotica Convention Resort and Spa.

opined Ullas Arora, F&B manager, Crowne Plaza Mayur Vihar. Sanjay Mamgain, corporate executive sous chef, Lords Hotels & Resorts added that along with maintaining cleanliness of the utilities it is also very important to maintain the hygiene of the kitchen environment. This includes regular cleaning of kitchen floors, sinks, walls especially the ones adjacent to the worktops, kitchen work tables, and panels among others. Glass cleaning, dish wash cleaning can be done as and when required however hard surface cleaning can be done periodically. One of the things that easily attract dust and get stubbornly settled is greasy soils in hoods and vents. It happens large-

It is also important that hygiene solutions can perform deep cleaning so that the food quality is safeguarded. Chef Rahul Dhavale, executive chef, The Westin Mumbai Garden City explained, “The products have an intended specific use. Some of these are to be used exclusively for deep cleaning and sanitising. Correct application and dosage of the chemicals under effective supervision ensures thorough cleaning while safe guarding the food quality by preventing cross contamination through cooking vessels and contact surfaces.” Naturally, stringent food safety standards and hygiene regulations are implemented to ensure that food prepared and served to guests is safe for consumption. “We have put certain procedures in place such as proficient cleaning with eco-friendly sanitisers to manage the risk of

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OPS & SERVICES F&B

cross-contamination. Good personal hygiene to prevent bacteria from spreading to food, Chef Sidney D’Cunha, Executive Sous Chef, JW Marriott Mumbai Sahar”. Thorough hand washing is a priority, particularly before handling and preparing food. Personal protective clothing should also be worn to minimize the spread of dirt and bacteria. “Chemicals used for cleaning are of the highest standards and are ready to use. Besides this, we used SS equipment and uniquely designed hygiene stations,” D’Cunha added. The hotel also conducts health safety and hygiene training for staff resulting in a safer working environment and accurate and upto-date ingredient information are displayed and regularly checked. COSTING MATTERS

It is very important to maintain the right operation cost without compromising the quality of hygiene and sanitation. And to balance all the factors which affect this is to set the right procedure and follow an SOP. “All equipment in the kitchen must have the right procedure of operating. This SOP needs to be designed keeping in mind the best results from available resources. Not only cleaning of kitchen but also cleaning and sanitation of row products have equal importance. For example sanitation of vegetables to avoid contamination which leads to wastage and cleaning chemicals with predefined ratio for dilution needs to be followed for best results,” said Tikadia. The cleaning cost of any kitchen is subjective and depends greatly upon the layout, space and equipment in use. The water ratio usage depends upon type of cleaning done and area size of a kitchen. Varun Sharma, F&B director, Clarks Exotica Convention Resort and Spa explained, “To keep the operations cost low we get into annual agreement with the supplier, Periodic practical and theoretical training of the team happens which ensures the operations cost remains low. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) is kept along with the chemicals and this is a document

be controlled by monitoring handling procedures, reducing the wastage and breakdowns, if any. Only comparison can be made with respect to the current and previous year.” To calculate the ROI on such cleanliness and sanitation routines is difficult and depends on hotel location and business volumes. “Instead, we work on expense budgets which vary as a percentage ratio of sales revenue. This means if sales are high then the hygiene solutions expense will be relatively high,” said Mamgain. Chef Prashant Tikadia, executive chef, Meluha The Fern. VENDOR SELECTION

that contains information on the potential hazards (health, fire, reactivity and environmental) and how to work safely with the chemical product. This is an essential starting point for the development of a complete health and safety program. Automatic dispensers are utilized to get the perfect mix of chemical with water.” Hotels usually have standard processes that are created and followed. Dosage, cleaning methods, schedules and effective supervision are included to control costs. "To manage the best of the operational services and keep the price low, we follow a few steps like signing annual rate contracts with vendors, providing proper training to the user team regarding usage and dosage, regular reviewing of costs, indent control procedures and internal audits," added Kotecha. DOING THE MATH

The Return On Investment (ROI) for hygiene solutions totally depends on the sale of the F&B product and it is a long term process. “Overall, the proper way to calculate a return is using the cash flow method, it should meet at least 15% ROI minimum in your first year and you are in a good business if you could reach 20 to 25% annual profit vs capital,” said Tikadia. Akanksha Kanwar, hygiene manager, The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel, Delhi added, “ROI in case of solutions related to hygiene cannot be considered as these are basic prerequisites of any kitchen and are indispensable. Hence, only the operational cost of few items/supplies can

Hotels select suppliers based on their individual hygiene standards, though the basic criteria remain the quality of chemicals, post-sales services provided by supplier and training imparted. “Our focus is always to maintain high standards of hygiene in order safeguard the quality of food we bring to the table. We conduct detailed audits of authorised vendors. The vendors providing good quality products that are eco-friendly, user friendly and cost effective are chosen for supply,” said Singh. “For identifying a supplier for kitchen hygiene solution, various relevant suppliers are identified following which quotes from them are citied for comparison and to keep a track on cost. Apart from this the reference of past work is taken, enquiry regarding the services they provide is collected from the given references. After taking all the feedback into account, a final decision is taken by the executive chef, the finance and purchase department,” explained Kanwar. While several hotels deal directly with the company’s distributors some choose wholesalers. This choice is governed by the efficiency and effectiveness of the supplier to deliver solutions in a timely and costeffective manner. Hoteliers are certainly realising that a hygienic kitchen is a given and this must be done in a manner that keeps all stakeholders happy – both internal and external. Well after all, the old adage cleanliness is next to godliness still holds true. HI

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OPS & SERVICES DESIGN

THE LUXE FEEL Bathroom design is becoming an increasing focal point in hotels as architects, designers and hoteliers collaborate to create spaces that enhance the overall look and feel of guest rooms BY BINDU GOPAL RAO

s a space that is truly personal, bathrooms win hands down. Naturally, guests are looking at hotels that combine aesthetics and practicality seamlessly to ensure that bathrooms are becoming a key driver in enhancing the appeal of a hotel room.

A traveller expects more from his hotel bathroom than what he has at his residential bathroom. He expects it to offer him relaxation, personal time for wellness, while being him a feeling of sophistication. Hence, hotels are going all out to design bathrooms keeping these aspects in mind with factors like over-sized

bathtubs, his and her sinks, large cabinets and plenty of space. While additional space translates into more luxury for guests, it is also a luxury for most hotels. Raghav Kapur, city head, Bengaluru, SILA has some suggestions to offer. “Increase your space vertically, as vertical height gives an impression of openness. If your space is square, have minimum physical barriers. Hotels should ensure that they comply with ADA standards and abide by all the codes while bringing in elements like a free standing tub, windows and manufacturing a view where all the creative components blend into an attractive bathroom,” he said. Sreenu JS, housekeeping manager of The InterContinental Chennai Mahabalipuram Resort stated, “Whether it is electricity or water, being efficient is of paramount importance. Lights are very important – natural light should be used during the daytime and electric lights should be used at night as these do not hurt the eyes. Also, the fixtures should be placed at the right spots.” He added that storage is a key element and space for linen and amenities should be evident, easily accessible and contemporary. Electrical outlets should be easily accessible with universal sockets and plumbing fixtures should be well concealed. THINKING STRAIGHT

The core thought when it comes to designing bathrooms should be the guest’s safety, comfort and functionality, while offering a luxurious unit that fulfills their needs – that is what Kingsley Pereira, executive housekeeper of Four Points by Sheraton, Navi Mumbai believes. “Having anti-skid floorings and grab bars, high-quality bathroom fixtures and fittings, telephone connections, audio and video connectivity, mood lighting, international multi-use plug points in the bathroom are some key design features that are borne in mind,” he said. Over a period of time, hoteliers have been investing a lot of time and energy to ensure that they pro-

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OPS & SERVICES DESIGN

Sumita Mehra, co-founder, Space Symphony.

The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel, Delhi.

vide the best and easy-to-use facilities in bathrooms. These facilities are extremely important, as according to an executive housekeeper, no guest wants to start their day with a lesson on how to use various faucets, spouts and bidet fittings. While sharing the brief to the architect planning and designing a hotel’s guest bathroom, hoteliers look for functionality in terms of proper lay outing, right circulation space, spacing between fixtures and fittings, segregation of wet and dry areas and the like. Along with this, the design experience and aesthetics must invoke a sense of visual delight. “From an aesthetic perspective, we usually provide few pointers like design should be beautiful and elegant keeping in mind the budget and client requirements, as well as practicality of its utility. Aesthetics is totally the personal choice of the client and architect, but functionality everything is a waste,” said Sumita Mehra, co-founder of Space Symphony, an interior designer. Talking about bathroom design, Bhawani Singh Shekhawat, executive housekeeper, The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel, Delhi said

that the bathroom traditionally stands between the corridor and the bedroom acting as a sound barrier and insulator for the sleep area. This also allows access from the corridor to the services so that maintenance issues can be sorted without the engineers having to access the bedroom directly. “Additionally, in some countries there is now a requirement that the toilet be in a separate enclosure than the rest of the bathroom and this is likely to become a de facto standard all across the globe. It is well said that managing design is

Bhawani Singh Shekhawat, executive housekeeper, The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel, Delhi.

a discipline as important and functionally necessary as the accounting process. We should emphasise the need to understand the likely guest profile of the target audience for hotel,” he added. COST CONSIDERATIONS

Unlike in a room, a bathroom is an area where there is very little room

bathrooms from Four Points by Sheraton, Navi Mumbai.

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OPS & SERVICES DESIGN

Satinder Chawla, MD, Span Floors.

Rajesh Mehra, director and promoter, Jaquar Group.

Emanuela Tavolini, director of sales, Europe, Graff.

to eliminate items as there is barely any scope to compromise on the type of elements and fixtures required. However, having said that, today the number of equipment suppliers in the market is vast and the primary way to save costs is to negotiate amongst vendors to get the best possible deal for the same fixtures. “Hotels do generally pay great importance to aesthetics and would like to add an element of style to the bathroom but there are ways to meet these demands while curbing costs. What is more important for the guest is easy use of fixtures, good temperature control in faucets, comfort of space in toilets. Hence, changes that can help with aesthetics while keeping costs in check would be using cost-effective lighting techniques in the toilet, such as backlit mirrors or changing the shape of the toilet itself, which can save space and money. An case in point is ibis hotel’s curved bathrooms which are compact, but very practical and efficient in utility,” averred Kapur. Value engineering is the key to cost control. Gerard O'Regan, operations manager, modular division at KEF Infra added, “It is essential that architects have in mind elements like natural lighting, building materials, green walls and roofs, electronic water faucets, water recycling, sewer treatments plants, rain water harvesting, solar systems, etc., to keep costs under control. As far as costing is concerned, it is the owner’s responsibility and none of the brands actually work on it.” Most hotel brands usually pitch in with material selection along with the interior designer and guide them. For example, if the interior designer proposes a particular wallpaper, the brand might change it to depending on their hotel design standards, or even shift to vinyl, paint or paneling.

performances in terms of resistance and durability. For this reason GRAFF developed Sleekstone, a patented, composite material that combines dolomitic stone with a resin that creates a solid surface product. Another trend that is standing out is the use of Corian that has a malleable quality helping it mould in any shape. It can be used as a counter top, basin or cupboard. “We have introduced wood tiles with a special backing for the purpose of wet area usage. Made with teak from sustainable plantation forest, these easyto-lay and remove tiles can be used in bathrooms, making them more appealing and comfortable. The use of a wood floor in the shower area provides a warm and slip resistant flooring surface that is easy to clean and maintain. The teak tiles can be oiled in various colour shades to go with the specific bathroom décor,” said Satinder Chawla, MD, Span Floors. NOW TRENDING

The use of wood, veneer along with stones for wall claddings, mirror

NEW VISTAS

Raghav Kapur, City Head - Bengaluru, SILA.

Hotels are now seeking materials that are more attractive and elegant like natural elements that have high

Graff Luna

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OPS & SERVICES DESIGN

cladded walls, tinted mirrors and etched mirrors defining new form of old materials is of additional interest. Illuminated surfaces like gemstones, acrylics or cutworks in metal acrylics or stones enhance the beauty and add richness to the whole scheme are now trending. Rajesh Mehra, director and promoter, Jaquar Group said that a huge transformation has been noticed in the areas of bathing spaces in the current time, from just being a merely functional space they have now moved to being more of an experience zone. The trends these days emphasises on personalising the space and adding amenities that are more spa like. “Extra-large showers offering a stress-busting, rejuvenating downpour while the powerful flow of heavy drops serves to recharge the tired nerves are in. Faucets have also evolved over the years and come in different finishes. Apart from the traditional stainless-steel finish, they come in different color variants like matt black, gold and copper to complement the entire bathroom,” Mehra added.

minimal designs are chosen more by the users to make a compact bathroom feel larger than it actually is. Soft metal tones like brass, brushed gold and rose gold are also in demand as they add warmth to the bathroom scheme. Many users like a dash of organic elegance in their bathrooms for which many natural materials like stone, wood, etc., are available in the market,” opined Gaurav Malhotra, MD, Hansgrohe India. TECH EDGE

D-foggers that help disperse fog from the glass and mirrors that are created while taking warm water shower or bath and intelligent WCs that come with specialised and integrated features like seat and water temperature control, adjustable spray shape, position, water pres-

sure, pulsate and oscillate functions are in. Towel warmers, motorised height adjustable EC, electronic smart glass that switches between clear glass and frosted glass with just a push of button, shower trays that have long showers with heavy rainfall effect without any waterlogging and chronotherapy or wellness shower experience are new age elements that use technology. Jaquar has a new self-cleaning shower that solves the problem of unsatisfying water spray and unhealthy germs on the showerhead. GRAFF’s Aqua-sense shower programme offers a wide selection of solutions for every need. The Aquasense multifunction system, for example, offers several additional and comfortable functions if compared with a normal showerhead. “The RGB LED chromotherapy, Artize Rainjoy by Jaquar Group

MATERIAL MATTERS

From the guest’s perspective, wood brings comfort in terms of relief from coldness while being slip resistant. It is also comparatively a softer surface as compared to a tile or stone and is now being increasingly used. Suchit Beria, principal architect at Atman Architects explained, “Marble and wooden texture dominates the list of the elements in a bathroom. Marble in various forms adds to the classic as well as a contemporary element with the perfect play of light. Guest bathrooms require all the accessories like a towel rack, accessories stand and potpourri to add the ideal essence. Nowadays, the use of glass has seeped through to bring about some transparency between spaces.” Colour shades like grey, nude and neutral colours are on rise as they give a touch of luxury and intimacy in the bathrooms and provide a sense of calmness. “Ergonomic and

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OPS & SERVICES DESIGN

Gaurav Malhotra, MD, Hansgrohe India.

InterContinentalChennai Mahabalipuram Resort_Resort Deluxe.

system is well equipped with handshower and adjustable side bodysprays. From watching videos and listening to music to enjoying color therapy, the Aqua-Sense shower system provides a multimedia experience through the use of touchpad technology,” explained Emanuela Tavolini, director, sales, Europe, Graff.

Kingsley Pereira, executive housekeeper, Four Points by Sheraton, Navi Mumbai.

VENDOR CONSIDERATIONS

Sreenu JS, housekeeping manager, The InterContinental Chennai Mahabalipuram Resort.

for example, changes colour to the whole ambient, shaping diffused chromatic lines to produce a soothing effect of the bathroom environment. The system is controlled by a touch-screen with simple and intuitive interface controlling water functions, colour changes, music and videos. The music is easily uploaded by connecting an i-Pod to a wall-mounted USB port, while the speakers are ceiling-installed. The

While selecting suppliers, hoteliers seek those who are not just well established but can also constantly supply products or services and are flexible enough to allow changes in orders or product lines. Rajat Bagchi, executive housekeeper, The Pllazio Hotel, Gurgaon said, “We work with suppliers who have a wide range of products that suits not only your present requirement but can support your requirements in the near future. Also, suppliers who follow ethical practices at work and have a good service support system in place and a wide network in your city to reduce lead times of maintenance and availability of spare parts are preferred.” SPACE, TIME SAVERS

To ensure optimum space utilization, it is vital to ensure that the standard spacing between fixtures

and fittings is maintained. Also, the door placement should be right not to hinder the smooth entry or exit or the free movement within. Likewise, pre-fabricated hotel toilets are expected to catch on, especially due to the influx on investment from funds into the smaller boutique and business hotels space in India, which requires hotels to scale up and open several hotels in different locations in a shorter span on time. Also, the material used in prefabricated bathrooms is highly durable, easy to maintain and no visible joints, ensuring that they will last longer and be more hygienic than traditional solutions. These are becoming an effective and valuable solution not just for budget properties but also where time overruns cannot be afforded. As the curtains draw up on 2018, the market is all set to see new finishes and new materials, both for the faucets and the furniture elements inside the bathroom. As Barbara Sallick, co-founder and senior VP of design, Waterworks said, “Today, the bath is decorated with the same care and attention as the rest of the house. You can have music, furniture, textiles, and refrigerators; and if you want to drink champagne in the bath, why not?” HI

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BOUND BY SOUND

Good quality audio systems in hotels, whether in open spaces or guest rooms, is a sure shot way to augment overall guest experience BY BINDU GOPAL RAO

f there is one thing guests immediately notice when they walk into a hotel, other than the design, it is the sound. Soothing music can immediately transport them into another world while a jarring note can put them off in a minute. What this naturally means is that audio systems in a hotel are of utmost importance not just for guest relations but also to ensure that the solutions are practical and cost-efficient. While this might sound like a simple task, hoteliers need to constantly invest in R&D and in the latest products to deliver optimum audio

in any environment – be it in guest rooms or public areas. The key lies in choosing the right equipment as far as audio systems are concerned and also ensuring that these are constantly updated and upgraded. “Recently, our sound infrastructure was redesigned to provide enhanced user experience in the ballroom. It was revamped with Tannoy ceiling speakers, Labgruppen C-series multi-channel amplifier and Biamp Tesira Forte digital signal processor. All these are controlled using Crestron Control processor (CP3). For live per-

formances, we have invested in a digital mixing console with MADI Interface. A full HD projector and tab tensioned screen is also installed to provide better visual experience,” said Nemaraji Sabapathy, chief engineer of Sheraton Grand Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway. Hoteliers are also introducing these systems in the meeting spaces in addition to the lobby. “The main areas we have introduced these are in the conferencing facilities where guests conduct their meetings. They can use our high-end equipment to provide richer visuals for their video and crys-

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

tal clear sounds for their teleconferences, thus ensuring more productive meetings. In addition to this, we have replaced old TVs and audio systems in guest rooms and restaurants, with advanced versions, again ensuring a richer experience,” added Sachin Mahesh, head, special projects and IT, juSTa Hotels & Resorts. In fact, vendors are also working with hoteliers to understand their needs and create solutions that are best suited to their requirements. Explaining how they go about it, Prashant Govindan, senior director, India & SAARC, Harman Professional Solutions said, "Our engagement with hoteliers begins with a design document that we prepare after understanding the specific needs of the solution that we need to provide. We work with multiple stakeholders including architects, facility managers, engineering and guest services, to come up with these specifications. Once these requirements are frozen and agreed upon we go on to create bespoke experiences combining audio, video and lighting technologies that not only enhance the overall ambience, but also improve the endto-end guest experiences." Even, overseas, this trend is catching on. Maheesha Ratnayake, director, operations, Cape Weligama, Resplendent Ceylon opined, “At Cape Weligama we have installed multi-speaker Sonos audio systems in the rooms and villas. Given the level of comfort we endeavour to

offer guests and the long length of stay, we believed that this would be an essential amenity guests would love and we were right. In public areas, we have custom playlists made by a specialist company in London that matches the time of day and the guest mood we seek to enable.” THE SOUND CONNECT

Managing an AV infrastructure requires staff who are periodically trained and certified to manage the existing set up and any future upgrades. As the trend shifts towards AV convergence, they must also be capable of handling basic IT infrastructure as well. Selecting and training these team members requires is, therefore, quite critical. “In places, where we have standalone hotels and the requirement is limited. Therefore, we continue to outsource as per our need. However, where the inventories are more and we have more than one hotel, we procure these systems as a shared resource and the costs are easily recovered through frequent usage,” said Mahesh. Kundan Attarde, director of engineering, Meluha The Fern Hotel added, “For small places like conferences and corporate meetings in-house AV services are more cost-effective. However, for bigger social events like weddings, birthday parties or exhibitions, the banquet halls might not be able to sustain with in-house AV services. Also maintaining inventory

Prashant Govindan, senior director, India & SAARC, Harman Professional Solutions.

Kundan Attarde, director of engineering, Meluha The Fern Hotel.

of AV products are more expensive than outsourcing the AV services.” Outsourcing AV services has several advantages. It is cost-effective as it reduces the fixed cost – companies do not need to maintain inventories or worry about maintaining the equipment or manpower to manage it. This is a huge advantage as they will always have latest equipment and technology as well as a support system to handle it. TREND CHECK

Alejandro Vidales, IT, Palazzo Versace Dubai said that companies are testing intelligent speakers using Alexa to control room features like air conditioning, TVs, or in room dining.

Increasingly, guests love to control of their in-room entertainment via their smartphones, using their own music source or the one that is provided by the hotel. Keeping this in mind, the current trend in audio system is to provide them with wireless audio or networked audio. “Right from customisable ambient music that is selected based on the time of day to automatic volume control to interfacing with fire alarm and building management systems,

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R&D IN AUDIO

Sachin Mahesh, head, special projects and IT, juSTa Hotels & Resorts.

background music has come a long way from the days it was merely ‘piped music’. In the guest rooms, audio is increasingly becoming part of the overall guest experience. With voice activated bedside assistance powered by Watson to an integrated entertainment package combined with music on demand, and waterproof speakers in the bathrooms, we are only limited in creativity,” Govindan added. Mahesh explained, “With the increased usage of smart phones and AI-enabled voice assist systems, we are exploring ways to use these to integrate our existing audio infrastructure to enable guests to operate in-room entertainment and other media through their phones.” Over the past couple of years, wireless audio and internet radio has been steadily gaining popularity. Digital signal processing to correct room acoustics, wireless automated systems, cloud technology, sound wave management and zone management are also trending in this space. Alejandro Vidales, director of IT. Palazzo Versace Dubai said, “Different companies are even testing intelligent speakers using Alexa to control room features like air conditioning, TVs, curtains, in-room dining or helping guests learn more about the city they are in. This seems to be an exciting time for this technology; great opportunities can be added to our guest’s user experience – from information about the timing of outlets, weather forecast, special promotions and voice control in the room.”

A key element that drives investments in R&D is based on guest feedback. Again, while some hoteliers invest in these efforts internally, others prefer to outsource. Mahesh explained, “Our core business is, and will always be, hospitality. Therefore, we ourselves do not invest in R&D, but work with reliable partners who keep introducing us to these technological advances available in the market and after careful evaluation, if required, we procure them for our business.” On the other hand, Vinesh Gupta, general manager, The Den Bengaluru said, “We work with our sound consultants, and our head of projects, Samy Ohana, who is an authority on acoustics. It is interesting that even after 50 years of experience, he is still found at universities around the world doing research, learning and adapting to new technology. In this respect, the company has invested substantial amount of resources and money to always stay ahead in the world.” Considering that several audio solutions are outsourced, hoteliers need to ensure about selecting the right suppliers. Reliability, cost-effectiveness, quality and functionality of products supplied and after-sales services are the key criteria while deciding to choose their partners. “One main criteria for selecting the AV service provider is their credibility in the field of pro audio and video design and implementa-

tion. We also analyse their previous engagements with us and get a feedback from their existing clients. The strength of certified engineers/ technicians is also one of the parameters for selection. Of course, their association with industry leaders in AV plays an important role in selection,” said Sabapathy. AESTHETICS VS. ERGONOMICS

Since the audio equipment segment is large, hoteliers also need to understand where these can be placed. This relates to matching ergonomics with aesthetics and making the most of the space available. “As most of the equipment can be rack mounted, standard equipment racks (19”) are used with appropriate accessories (shelves, PDUs, fans, etc.) to ensure that the space allocated can be optimised. Adequate space is allocated at various locations in the hotel to accommodate AV equipment racks and entries to these spaces are access controlled,” Sabapathy explained . Today, since modern equipment is more accessible and manageable, this has freed plenty of space that earlier used to be allocated for this function. Using cloud, network and switch type modules saves a lot of area as well. “We undertake restructuring of the space if deemed necessary by our projects team and replacement of redundant products to make way for the new installations,” added

Cape Weligama, Resplendent Ceylon has installed multi-speaker Sonos audio systems in its rooms and villas.

HOTELIER INDIA | MARCH 2018 | www.hotelierindia.com

Mahesh. “We ensure that space allocated to AV equipment is audited weekly and monthly and periodic preventive maintenance of the equipment is done,” opined Attarde. According to Govindan, the accent in the audio systems space especially in the installed enterprise grade audio systems, the two keywords are scalability and simplicity. Customers today are looking for simple to access and operate interfaces for all audio systems. Coupled with scalability with digital audio interfaces and transport on standard IT networks, deployments have become simpler as well. "Cost and time taken have drastically reduced with higher reliability and overall quality of experiences," he said. SOUND MATTERS

A studio room at Park Inn By Radisson New Delhi IP Extension.

Hospitality today goes beyond providing a great room and good food; it is about catering to all the five sensory needs – sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. “Today, sound consultants are as important as interior designers, and at The Den, we always believed in doing nothing but the state-of-art sound technology. Working with best AV consultants in the world leveraging brands like Bose, iHome and Kramer, we ensured that every area of the hotel is acoustically controlled. Even in guest rooms, we have iHome as a standard fixture as we realise that music is very personal, and guests may like to play their own music from their devices, and iHome is the perfect gadget to convert your personal space into a high-quality sound zone,” said Gupta. Again with audio equipment, hoteliers need to set aside a budget for newer technologies that will help us deliver better guest experience. “When a new upgrade is planned, an AVSP or a consultant is involved. The business requirements are discussed and the current infrastructure is audited and analysed by them. Basis their report and their design recommendations, we process the necessary incorporations and modifications,” said Sabapathy. Some of the current innovations

A ‘Smart’ Voice Park Inn By Radisson New Delhi IP Extension has launched voiceactivated smart rooms becoming the first property in India to provide an app-free in-room voice assistant that is powered by WebRTC technology. This is a collection of communications protocols and application programming interfaces that enable real-time communication over peer-to-peer connections. Six studio rooms in the hotel have been fitted with Amazon Alexa’s Echo Dot devices that help guests to control lights, music and TV settings with voice commands. They can also use the smart device to set wake-up calls, request room cleaning, in-room dining, laundry services and check-out. Saurav Dutta, general manager, Park Inn By Radisson New Delhi IP Extension said, “Integrating audio and video was necessary as we get lots of international guests who want to watch videos and listen to music in their language. The only solution was getting audio and video channels for different language from the internet as it was not possible to achieve this by conventional TV system. Therefore, we integrated Internet to the TV.” The hotel tied up with Kamakshi Clouds to embed Internet of Things and ensure that the solution did not require any change in

like smart phones are coming with AI and voice assist programs such as Apple’s Siri voice assistant and Amazon’s Alexa, companies are exploring interfacing existing products with these. “However, it is not necessary to introduce these as and when they are available; it is important to carefully evaluate and then procure it based on the requirement, feasibility, costs, scalability and ROI,” explained Mahesh.

the room’s infrastructure. An ordinary TV is connected to a device that streams internet content just like it would to as any computer or laptop in a simple plug-and-play fashion. “We installed Amazon Echo Dot for various services. The guest can avail housekeeping, concierge and laundry services using voice commands. They do not have to dial the reception for these services. They can also switch the light on or off with voice commands. Using Amazon Echo Dot’s feature, they can listen to news and music or set the alarm and reminders,” Dutta explained. With the voice-activated in-room solutions the hotel expects a 50% improvement in housekeeping efficiency, ensuring speedier completion of service requests. “In the future, we can have our own Bluetooth sound system that can be paired to Amazon Echo Dot. We have spent nearly INR 25000 for each room, which is not too exorbitant in comparison to the luxury services we are providing guests,” added Dutta. Besides elevating overall guest experience, Alexa’s integration in the room can help the hotel to compile all the feedback, look into its shortcomings and then introduce refined solution in other rooms.

Technology will always be a tool or act as an aid for providing a good experience to guests. But with the right people at the helm, ensuring that technology has a human face is what will hold hoteliers in good stead. Ultimately, it all boils down to one thing – sound is no more about playing music in guest or public areas, but about acoustics and mood management, with the right amalgamation of rhythm and vocals. HI

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INDUSTRY DEBATE

PURCHASE, SAVE, REPEAT

Procurement professionals share their core strategies for reducing supply-chain expenses BY PRADEEP SUVARNA

s globally travel expands at healthy rates, and hotels are feeling the pressure to maximise rates whilst growing revenue. One of the strongest weapons in their arsenal is procurement contracts they have with their vendors, which they can use to their advantage to buy the best products at the most viable prices. In fact, the role of a procurement team has gained such significance that the management has come to view it as a value center rather than a cost center. We speak to Arvind Mathur, regional director, strategic sourcing, South Asia of Carlson Rezidor, Saurabh Gaur, procurement and purchase manager of Fairmont Jaipur, Manish Jha, purchase manager of Pullman and Novotel New Delhi Aerocity and Bernad Fernandes, procurement

manager of Sofitel Mumbai BKC on the purchasing policies they adopt to maintain profitability. How do you get high-quality products and services at the lowest price for the longest term from suppliers? Arvind Mathur: A combination of consistent best practises, with a process-based assessment and proven performance record with long-term trust relationship is ideally the key to success in any organised buyersupplier relationship. Wherever the possibility exists, it is recommended that the prices are fixed for agreed periods by way of contracts, standing order or open orders. Bernad Fernandes: It is necessary to understand that procurement costs are a core part of the profitability performance in the hospitality business. The sustained availability

of products and services used in a hotel keeps the business running like a well-oiled machine. Moreover, such availability at the best quality for the least cost is what businesses strive for to maintain profitability. We believe in establishing good business relationship with the supplier, which in turn reduces our direct operating cost through long term agreements. Managing the four factors, i.e. quality, service, cost and delivery, goes a long way in ensuring that the right products are procured at the right price. Manish Jha: We have been able to maintain sourcing of superior quality products at a reasonable cost, ensuring that both cost and quality aspects meet our specifications. Considering the nature of supplies, we have categorised the requirements and further locked the pricing

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INDUSTRY DEBATE

with suppliers for different tenures. This has helped us in bringing the operational costs down and other supply chain issues to necessary levels. By opting for long-term contracts based on a supplierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s performance and the nature of our requirements, it has proven to be a win-win situation for both us and our supply partners. Based on the supplierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s performance we keep extending the contracts, post cost analysis and reviews at our end. Saurabh Gaur: There is no algorithm to experience, and with long standing experience in the industry, we have learned many valuable lessons in operating efficiently without compromising on the guest experience. One of the things we have learnt is how to keep the prices in check over a long period of time. We conduct exhaustive research in the form of market surveys, attend purchase seminars, check for quality and price, etc. Cluster/corporate contracts play a crucial role in this. In todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highly fragmented and competitive marketplace, the customer is king, and supplying companies therefore happily extend their support to loyal customers. As a rule, at Fairmont Jaipur, we believe in building relationship with vendors because they are our business partners at the end of the day. Secondly, we control costs by issuing an annual contract through a tender process and give a fair chance to all vendors to give us their best price. We evaluate the quality with the right price. This annual contracting helps us in retaining the best quality within the budgeted cost. Does the management team get actively involved in the procurement division from a strategic point of view? Arvind Mathur: There has been a paradigm shift in most management teams now. Procurement is now considered as a part of operations than a back-of-the-house function. Due to this, the pain points are evident to the operations only if explained and identified lucidly. Most of the time, they understand and are ready to adjust

and change to the market reality. Saurabh Gaur: Every product used in the hotel reflects the brand in some way or the other. To ensure that everything is in line with what the Fairmont brand stands for, and to warrant the overall brand values of AccorHotels are met, we ensure the involvement of all the departments in the hotel. It should certainly be a practice followed by all hotels to maintain consistency in the brand, since attention to detail is of utmost importance in the hospitality industry. At Fairmont Jaipur, each and every department head is involved in various stages of procurement to ensure the quality of products. Also, in case of introduction of a new product or replacement of any existing product, the management team is also involved. All of us work as one big and cohesive team with a common goal to ensure guest satisfaction. The expertise of such a diverse group helps us in understanding the market conditions, and enables us in getting a right replacement in the organisation. Bernad Fernandes: Yes, at Sofitel Mumbai BKC, we ensure that the department heads are involved in the procurement process. This practice that should certainly be followed by all hotels as it helps the procurement team in understanding the exact needs, demands and specifications of each department and also reduces duplication of effort, thereby saving man-hours along with a significant saving in the operating revenue. Manish Jha: Yes! The management team plays an active role while making procurement decisions based on the recommendations from related stakeholders. Management teams get involved in the early stages of the procurement process, ensuring that the buying decision is correct in all aspects making sure of right returns (expected and planned) against the expenses made. We apprise the management team of the pain points, if not identified while being part of the process and, they have been supportive in assisting the procurement team. I strongly feel that in any organization, as a key stakeholder, the management team needs

Arvind Mathur, regional director, strategic sourcing, South Asia, Carlson Rezidor.

Saurabh Gaur, procurement and purchase manager, Fairmont Jaipur.

to play an important role in making buying decisions and, also should be informed regularly about the operational challenges in the function so that they can exercise their authority to help alleviate the issue. Has the management started viewing the procurement team as a value center than the cost center? Arvind Mathur: I would say that now procurement is being almost considered as a profit centre, with defined goals of annual savings built into the KPAs, which result in straight contribution to the bottom line. Bernad Fernandes: Yes, absolutely! The management views the procurement team as the value centre rather than the cost centre. This healthy development is due to the in-depth analysis and data management done by the procurement teams, which in turn allows them to leverage better agreement with suppliers that impact the bottom line.

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INDUSTRY DEBATE

when the function was more clerical than strategic. Procurement teams now are not just working for sourcing of goods and services, but also contribute as strategic facilitators helping the management team in making best procurement decisions.

Manish Jha, purchase manager, Pullman and Novotel New Delhi Aerocity.

Bernad Fernandes, procurement manager, Sofitel Mumbai BKC.

Saurabh Gaur: Absolutely! As the guests are evolving and are being more vocal and specific in their demands, the procurement teams are considered to be value contributors and are also considered as backbone for every department to function properly, especially areas which deal in guest operations. Maintaining a consistent brand identity is important, especially for a luxury property. Our guests and patrons come with specific expectations and we, in the procurement team ensure that their demands are met and that they feel welcomed. Manish Jha: In the present scenario, the management team does understand the value of the procurement team as they are one of the key stakeholders in the area of managing a balance between expenses and revenue. Over a period of time, across industries, mindset about the procurement team has changed. Nowadays, the procurement team plays a vital role in making strategic decisions compared to earlier times

How do you map service level agreements with vendors to warrant lower TCO? Arvind Mathur: The endeavour is to incorporate wherever possible in the initial stage of any negotiation terms and conditions, a percentage of cost of anticipated critical spares, or freeze the cost of extended warranties. You can also finalise the AMC cost for a mutually agreed extended period covering the maximum life of the machine. Care is also taken to incorporate penalties for non-delivery of services where in machine down time is critical to operations. It is best to create an SLA that realistically manages to respond to the machine/process downtime and enables the actual users to eliminate drop in the departmental efficiency and get the required support to get back to normal level of operation. Secondly, incorporate actual userdriven time lines and criticality of the function to build the SLA terms and condition. Thirdly, manage the SLA performance with periodic reviews, and if need be, build in penalties, which will deter the service provider to drop the ball frequently. How do you work with various departments, like the finance and technology teams, to incorporate innovations and save cost? Arvind Mathur: The primary interaction with finance team is the historical data which is constantly analysed, where in trends can be identified for course correction. A spend map should be created in co-ordination with finance and IT teams that provides the basis for identifying opportunities and risks, the foundation for cost reduction initiatives and improving the value received from suppliers. Analysing the spend and regularly updating that map, will give invaluable insights which include know-

ing what the total spend is, who is spending and on what, which vendors supply multiple business units, which business units buy the same or similar goods and services and what portion of your spend is with the core suppliers (e.g., top 10) and the total number of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;off and small value transactions suppliers. The key is to ensure all data and information repositories are captured and that rules are in place to establish cost categories and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;bucketsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Once this data is analysed, it can be utilised to assist with decision making to negotiate better resulting in cost savings. Bernad Fernandes: A SLA is typically the level of service you expect from a vendor, laying out the metrics by which service is measured, as well as remedies or penalties should agreed-on service levels not be achieved. It is a critical component of any vendor contract. This ensures that the vendor understands the service contract properly and our expectations from them. Not only does this help streamline our service agreement but also helps us in negotiating the total cost of ownership. Manish Jha: SLAs with vendors are measured against the services rendered and are periodically reviewed to ensure lower TCO. The process of mapping the SLAs to ensure lowering the TCO starts from the inception of the requirement. Prior to award of the agreement

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INDUSTRY DEBATE

certain key points such as intent of service, ownership and responsibility of the service, expectations, evaluation process, etc, are worked out while making decision for award of the agreement. Post award, the performance is reviewed in all aspects ensuring that the vendors are meeting the required expectation levels of services defined at the time of award of agreement. We always ensure that vendors employed are in sync with our idea of performance standards and guest services, this helps in enhancing the level of understanding in vendors making them responsible enough to keep the service levels high and reduces our TCO to a level indemnifying us in various aspects of services. What new systems and methodologies have you started in your hotel to enhance processes like vendor-managed inventory, cyclic buying, etc? Arvind Mathur: The objectives of vendor managed inventory (VMI) is collaborative in nature, the buyer and seller can identify common objectives, which permit to build up a better collaboration between the partners to reach the main objectives i.e. tensing the different flows, speeding up the supply chain and reducing the bullwhip effect. This is a classic case of large organisations, but in case of individual Hotelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s this is not very practical. VMI has to introduce

information sharing and common decision-making processes. Bernad Fernandes: At present, at Sofitel Mumbai BKC, we are in the process of implementing VMI. This is a new model of inventory management in the hotel industry where the supplier maintains the stock in a hotel as per the standards prescribed by the procurement team. It will allow for better co-ordination of materials, more fluid flow of information among suppliers, manufacturers, contractors and procurement teams. It will also help us in maintain a high efficiency supply chain. Manish Jha: We are one of the leaders in opting for cost savings in terms of inventory management in the industry. Most of our suppliers for regular requirements manage inventory of products we procure in their stores and ensure timely supply of materials. Because of vendor managed inventory, we save cost of storage and do not have to block funds for the raw materials, also we opt for JIT (just in time) process for procurement, which is managed efficiently by a dedicated team. Seldom do we get into a situation where the stocks are not available with suppliers and we have to opt for another source. We are also working towards collaborating with organisations working on E-commerce platforms with turnkey one stop solution for all requirements of the hotel. This is going to be a trend setter not just for hospitality industry but for across the industries. Saurabh Gaur: We have started using WIN HMS software in the hotel, which helps us in complete inventory management. The software helps the team with regards to timely notifications of expiring products, maintaining accurate stocks of all products and timely pre-ordering of products as per the future requirement. This helps us in complete management of all our sub-departments such as store, receiving and purchasing. What are your top 3 successful strategies for the business? Arvind Mathur: The core purchasing strategies are Supplier Optimisation where you choose an optimum mix

of vendors who can provide the best prices and terms. This process usually means that the less able suppliers who cannot provide a quality service at the terms and prices required are discarded. This is by far the most common of the various purchasing strategies. The second is global sourcing and third is vendor development. In the last, specific category of vendors are identified and developed to work hand-in-hand with the hotels. Time is spent in developing processes that assist these vendors. There may also be the situation where a hotel is dependent upon just one supplier for their products. If this supplier is unable to perform to the required standards, the purchaser may assist the vendor in improving their service or implement processes to improve their procurement cycle. Bernad Fernandes: My top three successful strategies for business would be ensuring quality management is essential for any procurement team as it has an impact on the overall guest experience flexibility is essential for the procurement teams, various departments in the hotels and the suppliers as there are times when fulfilment of certain tasks takes time or cannot be fulfilled. Ensuring we identify the target customer by identifying the competitors and analysing the competitive set is also important. Saurabh Gaur: My top three successful strategies for business would be maintaining a healthy relationship with internal and external guests both vendors and employees. Procurement from local vendors and procuring locally made products is not only authentic to the place where the hotel is situated but also helps the hotel teams in creating an experience for the guests based on the city they are in. Contracting with the important vendors is necessary as it helps in reducing procurement costs and helps in inventory management as well. Manish Jha: For me, it has been marketing effectively, avoiding unnecessary expenses, and investing on our relationship with the vendor as the key strategies for the business. HI

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ANALYSIS

GOOD TIMES WILL COME AGAIN According to the India Hotel Review Report 2017, all India occupancy rose 1.4% to 65.3% – the highest in the last nine years, but ADR grew by a marginal INR 89

he India Hotel Review Report 2017 is a collaborative study by Horwath HTL and STR. The report examines occupancy, average daily rate and revenue per available room for several key markets. Besides assessing the performance of 13 major markets that accounts for almost 70% of India’s branded inventory, this year the report has taken a dipstick on the performance of newer markets across the country.

2017 will be associated with two defining events – the liquor ban for bars located 500m from highways and GST. The first shut down an important element of the travel and hospitality experience – a routine everyday life need for foreign visitors. The latter pushed up the travel bill to the long-term detriment of leisure and MICE travel. Additionally, foreign tourist arrivals crossed 10 million for the first time, up 15.6% from 2016. All India occupancy rose to 65.3%, the highest in nine years. Growth

HIGHLIGHTS OF ALL INDIA HOTEL PERFORMANCE IN 2017: • All India occupancy rose 1.4% to 65.3% – the highest in the last 9 years • A marginal ADR growth of INR 89 • Most major markets saw growth across parameters

was foreseen but fell short of expectations. ADR grew by a mere INR 89, and still remains behind the

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ANALYSIS

2013 market; high GST clearly had its impact. About 10,000 rooms were added in 2017 to chain-affiliated hotel inventory, taking the total count to 1,33,000 – supply slowdown has enabled some operating consolidation with beneficial results. But a thinner-supply pipeline is a longerterm concern. On the other hand, increasing supply spread through newer markets is creating opportunities.

INDIA MAJOR CITIES – Y-O-Y REVPAR CHANGE

TIME FOR GOOD NEWS

There is some good news as well. ADR went up by 1.6%, RevPAR by 3.8%. Most major markets saw growth across parameters; amongst the declines the most notable was the drop in occupancy at Goa, rate and RevPAR at Gurugram. New bankruptcy and insolvency resolution regulations will bring assets to market, forcing recalcitrant owners to reasonableness; this will further improve lending appetite for the sector. Demand and development continues to grow outside major markets. Hotel transactions are slowly increasing with more rationality of expectations by sellers and buyers. Longer duration loans are more pragmatic and are making life easier for all. F&B and banquets continue to be significant revenue generators across all segments, but the pace of growth has declined; APCs are largely stagnant.

Source: STR

THE NOT-SO-GOOD NEWS

WAKING UP TO REALITY

ADR is very slow. As every year goes by without meaningful rate gain, the real ADR is declining further – there is no real gain. With GST rates in the hospitality industry at 18% and 28%, one of the biggest potential employment revenue generators and exchange earners is being penalised by outdated conceptions of global competitive pricing. Further, the rule makers adopted published rates as a criterion, when the days of published rates are long gone. High GST has started to divert domestic leisure and MICE business overseas.

We keep hearing that we don’t need foreign visitors, the domestic market is sufficient. Well, temporarily the answer is yes. But in the longterm it is no. Take, for example, the scale of top-tier demand shortfall in Goa and Jaipur and the need for (and potential gain from) upper-tier foreign demand becomes absolutely evident. Development will not remain concentrated in major markets – on the contrary it will diversify in location and segment. Let us also not delude ourselves that the world loves us so much that they will come despite of our weak

infrastructure, lack of convention centers and high taxes. Another wishful thinking is that staffing challenges are over or that payroll costs will decline. Neither is the notion that project delays don’t cost money and that guest is patiently waiting for the hotel to open doors. Struggling owners will be more than happy to dispute this misconception. While it is positive thinking that occupancy and ADR will surge in 2018, one can expect moderate results. There is no money to be made in the leisure segment; in fact, the potential is massive across segments. HI

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CAREERS

MOVERS & SHAKERS NEW APPOINTMENTS

NAVJIT AHLUWALIA IS SENIOR VP AND COUNTRY HEAD Navjit Ahluwalia has been appointed Senior VP and Country Head of India. He will oversee Hilton’s 33 trading and under development hotels, including the recently opened Conrad Bengaluru, while leading the company’s growth strategy in the country. Ahluwalia, brings to Hilton 30 years of hospitality experience, including over 13 years at Marriott International where he held key leadership roles, the most recent being senior VP responsible for expanding the company’s portfolio in South Asia.

JATIN KHANNA IS VP AND HEAD OF OPERATIONS Jatin Khanna has been appointed as Vice President and Head of Operations of Hilton India. He takes over operations from Andre Gomez, who will be moving to a new role within the company. Khanna holds over 20 years of operations experience, including with both IHG and most recently Marriott International, where he managed Marriott's full portfolio in Bengaluru city as vice president, Bengaluru and general manager for the Bengaluru Marriott Hotel.

MANISH SODHI IS CEO Hotel Sahara Star has announced Manish Sodhi as CEO. He has over 20 years in the hospitality sector and has worked with leading international and Indian hotel brands like Starwoods and Leela Kempinski. His most recent assignment was as the General Manager of The Lalit Mumbai. Sodhi will be responsible for the hotel’s international expansion and will continue to elevate the brand and its growing portfolio building on the company’s extraordinary success over the years.

NASIR SHAIKH IS GENERAL MANAGER The 277-room Westin Pune Koregaon Park has appointed Nasir Shaikh as the General Manager. He began his hospitality career with Le Royal Meridien in 2000 as a management trainee. He later started his journey with Marriott International as the F&B director with JW Marriott Juhu and worked at different locations like Azerbaijan and Oman.

SHIPRA SUMBLY KAUL IS GENERAL MANAGER Shipra Sumbly Kaul has been appointed as the General Manager of Holiday Inn Express & Suites Bengaluru Racecourse. Prior to joining Holiday Inn Express and Suites Bengaluru, she launched Holiday Inn Chennai OMR IT Expressway as general manager. She joined IHG as director of sales and marketing and was promoted to executive assistant manager and general manager during her 17-year career.

SUMEET SURI IS GENERAL MANAGER Sumeet Suri has been appointed as the General Manager of Kochi Marriott Hotel. He was earlier the Hotel Manager of the ITC Grand Chola Chennai, where he spearheaded the operations of 600 rooms coupled with 10 restaurants and banqueting space of up to 1 lakh square feet. After beginning his career in 1999 at the WelcomGroup Management Institute, Suri joined ITC Maratha, Mumbai where he fronted the opening of a fine dine restaurant and overlooked both banqueting and restaurant operations.

DAVINDER JUJ IS GENERAL MANAGER Eros Hotel Nehru Place has appointed Davinder Juj as General Manager. He joined the hotel as executive assistant manager three years ago and was promoted as hotel manager. He brings with him 23 years of operational and business development experience. Juj has also been associated with several other brands such as InterContinental, Hilton and Hyatt.

VISHAL MEHRA IS GENERAL MANAGER Park Hyatt Chennai has appointed Vishal Mehra as General Manager. During his 20-year career, he has been associated with various Hyatt properties like Grand Hyatt Dubai, Hyatt Regency Dushanbe, Hyatt Capital Gate- Abu Dhabi, Park Hyatt Hadahaa. Before moving to Chennai, he was the opening general manager for Hyatt Place Dubai/Al Rigga and Hyatt Place Dubai/Baniyas Square. An alumnus of the IHM, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, Mumbai and Cornell University, Mehra was also a part of the opening team for the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai.

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CAREERS

MOVERS & SHAKERS NEW APPOINTMENTS

KAREN MENDES IS DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING Park Hyatt Hyderabad has appointed Karen Mendes as director of sales and marketing. With a total of 16 years of experience, she has earlier worked with brands like JW Marriott, Grand Hyatt Mumbai, Hyatt Gachibowli and The Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel. She will now work towards developing strategies to maximise RevPAR and grow market share so that the property meets or exceeds the hotel’s budgeted goals while attracting new businesses in Hyderabad.

SARAH RAINA IS DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING Sarah Raina has been appointed as the Director of Sales & Marketing at the JW Marriott Jaipur Resort & Spa. Her last held position was as director of sales at the Grand Hyatt Goa. Raina started her career as a management trainee with Marriott in 2004 and three years later was promoted to assistant sales manager and later to cluster sales manager, Marriott India in 2009.

ARJUN KAGGALLU IS DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS Hyatt Regency Chennai has appointed Arjun Kaggallu as Director of Operations. His last assignment was as director of rooms at Taj Lands End Mumbai. He began his hospitality journey in 2003 as an industrial trainee with Hyatt Regency Mumbai. A graduate from Hotel & Tourism Institute Switzerland, during his 14-year career Kaggallu’s work experience spanned three continents – Europe, US and Asia.

SUSHMA KHICHAR IS DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS Bengaluru Marriott Hotel Whitefield has appointed Sushma Khichar as Director of Operations. She was earlier at JW Marriott Mussoorie Walnut Grove Resort and Spa as director of rooms. Khichar began her career at The Oberoi, Mumbai as front office assistant before moving to The ITC Grand Maratha and Sheraton Tower, Mumbai as a guest relations executive.

SANDEEP SINGH IS F&B DIRECTOR The Westin Gurgaon, New Delhi has appointed Sandeep Singh as F&B Director. He has worked with The Leela Hotel & Resorts, The Oberoi Group, Hyatt Hotels and was a part of the Shangri-La’s Eros New Delhi. In his present role, Singh will be responsible for ensuring optimal functionality of the restaurants from all possible facets, including the front service and the back culinary end.

SAURABH BHATNAGAR IS F&B DIRECTOR Saurabh Bhatnagar has been appointed as the F&B Director at Le Meridien Goa, Calangute. His prior assignment was with Park Hyatt Chennai as F&B manager. During his 14 year career he has worked in leisure destinations in India and overseas gaining expansive knowledge and expertise in creating F&B concepts and creating successful restaurants. In his present role, Bhatnagar is responsible for setting the F&B positioning for the hotel, ensuring guest satisfaction, manage costs, vendor management, associate handling, training and managing the team.

ANVEETA PURI IS DIRECTOR OF CATERING SALES Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel has appointed Anveeta Puri as the Director of Catering Sales. She was previously associated with The Leela, Mumbai as the head- catering sales. In the past, she has worked with prestigious brands such as The Lalit, The Taj Group and Marriott Group in various positions from F&B to Sales.

POOJA DUBEY IS REVENUE MANAGER Pooja Dubey has joined Four Points by Sheraton Jaipur as Revenue Manager. She has over a decade experience in the rooms division and has worked with companies like the Radisson Jaipur City Centre, Park Plaza, Shiv Vilas and Fortune Select Metropolitan by ITC Welcome Group.

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