hotel scapes february 2012

HOTELSCAPESA L L A B O U T H O T E L S & H O S P I TA L I T Y

• Hotels woo guestswith executivefloors & lounges• Keshav Suri talksabout his plans forThe Lalit Group• The OberoiGurgaon is theWorld’s LeadingLuxury Hotel 2011• Madhya Pradeshto focus on buildinginfrastructure toboost tourism

Nakul Anandcharting the road ahead at ITC Hotels

Volume 1. Issue 1. February 2012. Rs 50

New Developments4 Chatwal Hotels to invest Rs 2,000 crore in India6 Vivanta by Taj opens 5th hotel in Hyderabad8 Royal Orchid eyes wedding market with Regenta

10 The Pllazio Gurgaon aims to stand our with itsarchitecture

Hospitality Report12 HVS reports on sustainability in global hotel industry

International Report16 Europe’s Hospitality Results 2011

Interview of the Month18 Nakul Anand on what makes ITC a game changer

One-on-One24 Keshav Suri talks about plans for The Lalit Group

Forum of the Month28 Hotels strategise lounges & floors to woo

business travellers

Chain Analysis34 Best Western plans 100 hotels by 2017

Hotels Luxury42 The Oberoi Gurgaon sets new benchmark in luxury

Social Media46 Hotelier Virat Varma blogs his views on

Lebua, Bangkok

Destination Analysis48 Madhya Pradesh to focus on infrastructural

development

Events & Happenings50 ITC’s cuisine charms all at world economic forum

Products51 New launches this season

People52 Our industry track on movements across the country

Corporate Social Responsibility54 Emerging CSR trends in the hospitality industry

Last Page: Responsible Tourism56 ‘High Value Low Impact Tourism’ debate at PATA

event in Bhutan

Guest Columns23 Pune Hyatt Regency’s winning formula in a highly

competitive market38 Dining out culture is evolving40 Changing trends in spa culture45 Critical issues facing hospitality today

Volume 1 Issue 1 FEBRUARY 2012

Editor: Navin S Berry Assistant Editor: Purva Bhatia Business Development: Sudhir SoodAdvertising: Saurabh Shukla Design: Ashok Saxena, Neelam Aswani

Go Now is published and printed monthly by Navin Berry on behalf of Cross Section Media Pvt. Ltd. and printed atRakesh Press A-7, Naraina, Phase II, New Delhi and published from IIIrd Floor, Rajendra Bhawan,210, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi - 110002. Tel: 91-11-43784444; Fax: 91-11-41001627, 41001628.E-mail: [email protected]

This issue of hotelscapes contains 56 pages plus 4 pages cover

February 2012 HOTELSCAPES

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EDITOR’S NOTEHotelscapes is our endeavour to bring an in-depth analysis and initiate

a dynamic dialogue within the industry. We work closely across segmentsand ensure that we inform intelligently and report objectively on issuesthat matter.

The magazine combines a range of current news stories, ongoing trendsand features dedicated sections for analysis. You’ll read columns fromexperts talking about concerns as well as developments and trends shapingthe industry.

In this issue, our Interview of the Month is with the man at the helm ofaffairs at India’s iconic ITC Hotels. In an exhaustive dialogue, he tells uswhat makes ITC the game changer that it is; the much awaited ITC GrandChola in Chennai; and key trends in the Indian travel and tourism industry.

In the Forum of the Month, we take a look at the upcoming trend inhotels: lounges and exclusive floors to woo high-end business travellers.Club or executive lounges offer a host of facilities to provide conveniencesand exclusivity to the guests. Leading hoteliers in the country reveal theirstrategy on this front.

Noted Indian-American hotelier Sant Chatwal recently made headlineswith his announcement of an investment of Rs 2,000 crore to open 52hotels in the country. In our section on ‘New Developments’, Chatwal fatherand son, tell us all about the group’s plan for the Indian market. We alsoupdate you about other launches across the country.

We trust you find the magazine informative and we invite commentsand feedback from you.

CONTENTS/EDITORIAL

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| HOTELSCAPES February 2012

L–R: Seen at the pressconference: Vikram

Chatwal, Eric Danzignerand Sant Chatwal

deluxe brand Dream and 4-star brand Night toWyndham Hotel Group, plans to expand themin India through the franchise model and de-velop them with the help of local partners.

At a press conference in the capital, bothfather and son Chatwal reiterated their strongIndia connection, and their interest in tracingtheir roots here with establishing a networkof hotels, under the brands of ‘Dream’ and‘Night’. Their plans to launch fifty two hotels– 40 Night hotels and 12 Dream hotels – inthe next five years will be pursued with help

from Wyndham Hotels, who have been givenexclusive rights to franchise and manageboth these brands. Wyndham is the world’slargest hotel operator, even though a relative-ly recent brand in India. Wyndham made anearly exit from their Dwarka property in NewDelhi, now being relaunched as Lebua. Italso exited its Ramada branded hotel in Con-naught Place in New Delhi (what wasformerly Ashok Yatri Niwas and now RoyalPlaza). This partnership should provide aboost to both parties.

The press conference announcement saidthat the initial launch sites will be a Dreamresort in Goa and India’s first location forNight will be in Chennai. These will be fol-lowed by New Delhi, Mumbai along withBangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Jaipur andUdaipur.

“For me, India has always been the ulti-mate hospitality destination”, said SantChatwal, Chairman & CEO, Hampshire Ho-tels & Resorts. “The multifarious lifestyle,culinary and cultural opportunities that thisgreat country offers to the hospitality indus-try are immensely untapped. With our twobrands, we aim to give consumers, both In-ternational and Domestic, an eclecticexperience that will be both memorable andenjoyable”, he added.

The Chatwal Hotels & Resorts, as stated intheir press release, have already made invest-

Hampshire Hotels & Resorts, themanagement arm of ChatwalHotels & Resorts has announceda more pronounced entry into

the Indian market, this time riding on the dis-tribution and brand power of WyndhamHotels. The group has existing properties inHyderabad and Kochi; this renewed thrust ismeant to signal a major expansion for the In-dian market.

Chatwal Hotels, which has given the fran-chise and management rights of its 5-star

Chatwal Hotels &Resorts haveannounced theirintention to investRs 2,000 crore inIndia to open morethan 50 hotels overthe next five years.

Announcing a Renewed Return, Hotelier

CHATWALTies-up with the Wyndham Group

NEW DEVELOPMENTS


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ments worth Rs 1,000 crore in India and haveadditional equity investment of Rs 2,000crore planned that will go towards setting upof initial infrastructure towards operation ofthe large chain.

The Night brand, which Chatwal plans todevelop in primary and secondary markets,will be positioned as an ‘affordably chic’ ho-tel option featuring innovative designs andservices such as guest deejays in lounges andgourmet quick-serve food and beverage op-tions. The Dream brand is positioned as afull-service, lifestyle brand for gateway citiesand resort destinations. The brand’s person-ality is light-hearted and fun, embracing theuse of vivid visuals and trend-setting design.The progressive service offerings will emulatethose of luxury hotels, but with a more re-laxed point of view. The Dream brand ethosis defined by its tagline “It’s your dream, weprovide the room service.”

Dream and Night hotels are currently inoperation in New York, Miami, Bangkok,Thailand and Cochin, India and its internation-al expansion plans include hotels in Vienna(Austria), Prague (Czechoslovakia), Budap-est (Hungary), Berlin (Germany), Zagreb(Croatia), Sao Paulo (Brazil) and 10 otherproperties in USA including Los Angeles. ■

Dream Hotel Pool Overhead

Electric Room at Dream Hotel

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Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces has re-cently opened Vivanta, a five star hotelat Begumpet in Hyderabad. It is the

first hotel under the Vivanta banner in theState. This will be Taj's fifth star hotel in Hy-derabad after Taj Krishna, Taj Banjara, TajDeccan and the Falaknuma Palace Hotel.

Speaking on the launch of the new hotel,Raymond N Bickson, MD & CEO, IndianHotels Company Limited said “With thelaunch of Vivanta by Taj – Begumpet, Hyder-abad we have expanded our footprint inAndhra Pradesh. It supports the company’sobjective of achieving growth through do-mestic dominance Taj Hotels Resorts andPalaces has had a long-standing relationshipwith Hyderabad. This is our fifth hotel in thecity. The mix of work and play; a stylish ur-ban oasis is what Vivanta by Taj – Begumpetbrings to the city of Hyderabad.”

Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, India’slargest hospitality group, plans to open 17new hotels under ‘Vivanta by Taj’ and ‘Gate-way’ brands across the country this year. “Weopened one new hotel every six to sevenweeks last year and in 2012 we will open oneevery three weeks,” Bickson added.

Speaking on the launch of the hotel, VeerVijay Singh, Chief Operating Officer, Vivan-ta by Taj – Hotels & Resorts said, “TheVivanta brand is growing at a rapid pace.Vivanta by Taj – Begumpet, Hyderabad is thefourth Vivanta property to be launched sincethe last year. With its strategic location andthe Vivanta brand features; this hotel has

NEW DEVELOPMENTS

Highlights…❏ 1st property by Vivanta by Taj and5th by Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces inAndhra Pradesh – located in theconnecting corridor of Hyderabad andSecunderabad – Begumpet❏ A spanking new property with 181luxuriously rooms and suites❏ Spacious, contemporary, stylish andedgy, offers guest with the pleasurableside of business travel❏ Differentiated experiences: diverseselection of cuisines, gourmetrejuvenation and relaxation outlets, off-beat meet and celebrate opportunities

located at the intersection of Hyderabad andSecunderabad in close proximity to the citycentre and the fast paced business district ofthe twin cities. The hotel is centrally situated,and is a short walk away from Hyderabad'scentral business districts, tourist attractionsand shopping destinations. “Vivanta by Taj isthe latest brand in the Taj portfolio and weare proud to announce its foray into Begum-pet – the fast paced business district of thetwin cities of Hyderabad and Secundera-bad,” quipped Harris.

The hotel has 181 rooms and suites thatperfectly blend delightful comforts withsmart technologies. In the land of rich cui-sines, the hotel offers a kaleidoscope ofculinary experiences. Viva, the all-day diner,is a fresh take on Mediterranean, Italian andEuropean cuisine, fused with Creole andCajun culinary styles with innovative cookingtechniques. Guests can enjoy live interactivecooking on convection trolleys right at thetable. The Grill is a romantic poolside al fres-co restaurant serving Italian, Moroccan,Greek, Lebanese and Indian cuisines,cooked in shaslik, rotisserie, brochettes andIndian grilling styles.

Giving dining an imaginative twist, thehotel presents an exotic in the pool diningexperience, where guests can enjoy a fineselection of grills, which will be served insidethe pool on a specially-designed glass table.Ask for Chef’s Table at Viva to dine with theExecutive Chef and get valuable insights,attention and enjoy one of the mostremarkable meals of your life.

Catering to the needs of meetings, eventsand conferences, the hotel offers over 7000square feet of well-defined, contemporarymeeting spaces suitable for power meetings,memorable brand lunches, upscale wed-dings and other events. The banquet hallshave been designed with modern technolo-gy, integrating style and elegance, suitablywired for hi-tech conferences and meetings.

The hotel also offers guests a rejuvenatingand relaxing experience ranging from sever-al alluring natural spa treatments, anenergizing workout at the 24-hour gym to arefreshing dip at the swimming pool. ■

compiled by PURVA BHATIA

been created for the global traveller lookingfor a unique and contemporary experience.”

Vivanta is a five-star hospitality brand inthe Taj portfolio positioned in the upscalesegment. The name ‘Vivanta’ draws inspira-tion from the term ‘bon vivant’, signifyingsophistication and appreciation for the goodthings in life and also from the attributes ofvividness and vivacity. The brand exudesstyle and a strong sense of living life to thefull…It is a brand with a contemporary, ener-getic and vivacious twist,” said Deepa MisraHarris, Senior Vice President, Sales & Mar-keting, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces.

Vivanta by Taj – Begumpet, Hyderabad is

Vivanta by Taj Opens, takes Taj Group to5 Properties in Hyderabad

With the launch of this hotel, the overall Vivanta by Taj portfolio goes up to 23 hotels.This will be the first hotel under the Vivanta banner in Andhra Pradesh thereby

increasing the brand's footprint in the country.


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Bangalore-based Royal Orchid is eyeinga share of the fast growing weddingand events pie. For this it has unveiled

its ‘Regenta’ brand specifically designedfor hosting Indian weddings, conferencesand events.

The chain has launched Regenta Hotel &Convention Centre, the second property bythe group in Delhi NCR region aiming to es-tablish a stronger presence in the northernpart of the country. “For Indians, wedding isa very important event so they don’t mindspending on it. With the launch of ‘Regenta’,we are prepared to take on the weddingsand events market in India. The region seeslarge numbers of corporate footfall, but hasvery few professionally managed conventioncentre-cum-hotels,” says Chender Baljee,

NEW DEVELOPMENTS

Royal Orchid Opens Regenta in New Delhi,Eyes the Wedding Market

Regenta Hotel &Convention Centre,GurgaonThe six-acre property, owned by AnantRaj Group, has been taken on lease byRoyal Orchid. It features 50 deluxerooms and two suites. Locatedalongside the Delhi Gurgaon ExpressHighway, the resort is close to theairport and railway station.Conference and banquet halls at theproperty have areas ranging from 850-6500 square feet, and capacity of up to300 guests. It also has an extensivelawn that can host up to 1000 guests.The Food & Beverage offering includea multi-cuisine restaurant – Pinxx.

Chairman and Managing Director, Royal Or-chid Hotels. The next Regenta property willopen in Faridabad.

When asked about the opportunities thegroup sees in Delhi NCR, Baljee said: “NewDelhi has seen a steady growth in the pastfew years with foreign investment takingplace in the city. This has been coupled bythe boom in various sectors and hospitalityhas remained one of the biggest sectors.”

The company currently operates 20 ho-tels with 1,800 rooms across India inBangalore, Mysore, Hospet, Mumbai, Pune,Jaipur, Goa, Mussorie, Ahmedabad, Gurga-on, Delhi and Baroda. These are in upscaleand mid-scale segments under joint venture,ownership, lease, revenue sharing and man-agement contract models. The company’sother brands are Hotel Royal Orchid (five-star), Royal Orchid Central (mid-market)and, Royal Orchid Suites and Resorts. It alsooperates one hotel in Bangalore under theRamada brand through a franchise agree-ment with Wyndham Hotel Group. Thechain is optimistic about the growth in themid-market segment.

“In the next three years, we expect totouch 5,000 rooms inventory by launchingnew hotels. Today, we have 20 hotels and inthe next one year, we hope to have 30 hotelswith total inventory of 3,000 rooms. The fo-cus will be on management contracts,” hesaid. The chain is also eyeing internationalpresence. “We had put the plan to enter Tan-zania (East Africa) in 2008 on hold due tomarket conditions. But in the next two years,we should have a presence in that region,”he said. ■

by PURVA BHATIA

The chain says it wantsto cater to the growingdomestic demand forbranded hotels forweddings and events.


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NEW DEVELOPMENTS

The Pllazio Gurgaon Aims to Stand Outwith its Architecture & Design

The Pllazio,GurgaonSet amongst the Manhattan liketowering glass structures of themillennium city provides a welcomechange while in close proximity toacres of landscaped gardens,walkways, courtyards, reflection poolsand fountains. Its neo-classic ambienceincludes 80 rooms & 2 suites.

In a market that is increasingly getting cluttered with hotels in all categories,The Pllazio aims to build a market for itself in Gurgaon.

pointed them. Being close to the main busi-ness district and comfortably close to theairport, Gurgaon seemed to be the ideal loca-tion for The Pllazio.

Talking about the décor of the hotel, Sah-ni stressed that every detail in the rooms,restaurants and bars has been very tastefullychosen and suits the pleasing ambience ofthe hotel. The rooms and suites have beendivided between The Aster and Iris Suites,The Neo-Classic Rooms and The Contempo-rary Rooms. The rooms are stylishly designedfor the modern business traveller and Sahniclarified that they were looking at year roundsold out position. According to him, “Having

The Pllazio Hotel stands apart in thedeluge of hotels in Gurgaon becauseof its aristocratic design and Europe-

an architecture. According to VarinderSahni, Joint Managing Director of ThePllazio, the USP of the hotel is the structureitself. Sahni said, “Our hotel is not a regularbox hotel, a lot of planning has gone into it,the rooms have been tastefully done and thestructure on the outside is inspired from theEuropean style architecture.” The hotel has aneo-classical ambience and boasts an inven-tory of 8 rooms and 2 suites.

The Pllazio is essentially being positionedas a hotel for the business traveller. A highupscale category hotel, Pllazio is targeting amarket mix of 80% business travellers and20% leisure travellers. Gurgaon being a busi-ness hub and with more industries andcorporate houses moving there, the demandfor business hotels is on the rise. Pllazio hasfilled the gap of a business hotel to the tee. Inspite of many hotels mushrooming in the sat-ellite town, Sahni feels that there could nothave been a better location for the hotel thanGurgaon. They were targeting Gurgaon fromthe beginning and this choice has not disap-

a small inventory of 80 rooms and 2 suites,there will be a lot of movement all the yearround. Business is conducted all 365 days ayear and filling up 80 rooms isn’t a big targetto achieve.”

Being positioned as a business traveller'shotel, Sahni is very optimistic about the MICEopportunities offered by the hotel. “It is per-fectly placed in terms of MICE opportunitiesbecause there are three board rooms withseating capacity ranging from 12 to 200 peopleand offers state-of-the-art technology vis-à-visinternet access, audio-visual support and oth-er such amenities”, he said. He mentionedthat The Melange World Cuisine Restaurantoffers Italian, Oriental and Indian cuisines andThe Scruples Bar, which is a double deck barwith the upper deck being used as an exclu-sive venue for a private party of 35-40 people.

“We are not looking at any competition.We are positioned differently and we want tomake our own market. Ours is a niche prod-uct and we are promoting ourselves asdifferent.” Although on being prodded fur-ther, Sahni did confess that Leela, Oberoiand Westin are healthy competitors. ■

by APRAJITA SHISHOO


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HOSPITALITY REPORT

HVS Report on Sustainability in

GLOBAL HOTELINDUSTRY

2011-2012Market Trends and Opportunities

The past several decades have seena growing awareness amongst hote-liers and investors regarding the en-vironmental and social impacts of

hotel development and operations – to theextent where sustainability issues have per-meated nearly every aspect of the hospitalityindustry. This has been driven by multiplefactors including owners’ and operators’ de-sires to reduce operational costs, changinginvestor attitudes toward the environment(and the coinciding emergence of corporate

social responsibility programs), increasedregulatory focus on facility operations anddevelopment, and a general shift towards theparadigm of ‘sustainability.’

While other aspects of the hospitality sec-tor are relatively straightforward to record andinterpret (e.g. occupancy percentages, capital-ization rates, RevPAR, etc.), sustainability hasremained intrinsically difficult to quantify.Sustainability issues touch on nearly all as-pects of hotel ownership and management,necessitating the alignment of environmental,

social, and financial factors to promote re-sponsible business operations over time.

Current Trends in FacilityManagementCurrent thought in facility management, andspecifically hospitality operations, is largelyfocused on optimising operational efficiency(and the resultant cost savings) in primarilythree areas: energy, water, and waste.Energy. Hotels consume energy for HVACoperations, lighting, cooking fuel, and other

The concept ofsustainability hasgained momentum inrecent years withinthe global investmentcommunity – resultingin significant financialimplications for newand existinghospitality assets,according to a recentreport by HVS.


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The number of resources to assist hotelowners and operators in understanding andimplementing sustainability measures is vast.These resources are provided by internation-al organisations, public agencies (nationaland local governments), environmental firms,architectural & engineering consultancies,energy firms, utilities, trade organisations, andother entities.

Additionally, a growing number ofenvironmental certification programs havearisen that are targeted towards thehospitality sector. These programs can bedivided into several broad categories,including: 1) Environmental programstargeted toward the hospitality industry; 2)Programs targeted toward green buildingdesign and operation; and 3) Green productcertifications and standards. Table 1 on thefollowing page lists some of the more

miscellaneous power requirements. From afacility management perspective, the major-ity of focus is placed on reducing energyintensity, which can be accomplished usinga technical, engineering-based approachknown as commissioning. Front of the houseenergy efficiency measures include lightingretrofits, minimisation of plug loads, and seal-ing of the building envelope. Back of thehouse energy efficiency measures includeimproved equipment and equipment sched-uling, proper sensor calibration, eliminationof simultaneous heating and cooling, andmaintenance of proper building ventilation.Recent advances in technology relating torenewable sources of energy (solar, geother-mal, wind, etc.) have improved theeconomics of using these alternative energysources at the individual facility level.Water. Hotels consume water on a domesticbasis (bathrooms, F&B, laundry), as well as‘process’ water for facility operations (HVAC,irrigation, cleaning and maintenance). Ho-tels also collect and in some cases treatgreywater (i.e. water generated from domes-tic activities) and blackwater (i.e. sewage)generated by guests and back of the houseoperations. Typical water conservation mea-sures employed by hoteliers include fixtureretrofits, towel and linen reuse programs,HVAC and plumbing system improvements,and use of recycled/rain water for processand irrigation use.Wastes. Waste streams generated by hotelsinclude wastes from construction and refur-bishment, consumables (e.g. paper, toner,batteries), durable goods (e.g., furniture, of-fice equipment, appliances), F&B wastes,hazardous materials (e.g. cleaning solutions,fluorescent bulbs), and recyclable oil. Hote-liers employ variety of strategies to reduce,reuse, and recycle wastes to minimise pro-cessing and hauling costs. Vendors areincreasingly providing 'waste-to-energy' pro-cessing services, whereby wastes areprocessed into alternative energy sourcessuch as natural gas or biodiesel fuel and soldback to hoteliers at reduced prices.

In addition to the three core areas of facil-ity development and operations, otheremerging areas of focus include sustainableprocurement, indoor environmental quality(focusing on air quality and chemical/clean-ing product use), and staff training programs(which can facilitate improved performanceand higher levels of employee satisfication/retention).

prevalent certification programs that arerelevant to the hospitality sector.

Drivers Toward SustainabilityIn today's economic climate, there are mul-tiple factors that encourage business ownersand managers to adapt sustainability mea-sures into standard operational procedures.While the more obvious drivers include costsavings and demonstration of corporate so-cial responsibility to investors, a number ofmore subtle reasons – such as employee re-tention and enhancing the guest experience– are also coming increasingly into play.These motivations are explored below.Cost savings. The realisation of a bottomline financial return from implementation ofsustainable business practices is arguably thestrongest motivating factor to encourage pri-vate sector participation. Energy efficiencyand conservation measures have been stud-ied in depth over the past several decades,leading to assessments that the majority ofbuilding stock throughout the world is con-suming more energy than necessary. Thereare also potentially significant opportunitiesfor cost savings in the areas of water con-sumption and waste handling/recycling.From a financial perspective, many of thecost reduction strategies can be achievedwith no-cost or low-cost measures focusedon optimisation of the performance of bothequipment and personnel. Given the com-

HOSPITALITY REPORT

Energy savings of 10 - 20%(or greater) can be achievablethrough a technical review ofplant equipment and operationsand resulting implementationof energy conservationmeasures (ECMs).

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petitive nature of the lodging industry and as-sociated difficulty of increasing revenue, thepotential for reduction of operating costs pro-vides a compelling incentive for hoteliers toevaluate investment in environmental tech-nologies, as well as more efficientoperational procedures.

Fiscal and economic incentives. In aneffort to encourage the development ofenvironmental retrofits and the constructionof 'green' buildings, a variety of fiscal andeconomic incentives have been enacted bynumerous governments, agencies andorganisations around the world. Thesebenefits range from tax write-offs to outrightgrants, and can also include more novelconcepts such as insurance premiumdiscounts, expedited regulatory permitting,and grants to cover development soft costs forsustainable projects.

Regulatory affairs. Existing environ-mental regulations targeted toward thehotel sector are largely focused on variousaspect of facility operations such as storm-water management, hazardous materialshandling, and environmental health andsafety. However, a wide range of presentand future legislative activities will impacthotel design, construction and operations.This legislation ranges from the broad andlong-term (e.g. cap and trade legislation re-garding emissions) to the specific (e.g. U.S.Energy Independence and Security Act of2007, which applies phased efficiency stan-dards to incandescent light bulbs). Theconcept of Life Cycle Assessment for prod-ucts (i.e. the review of environmentalimpacts from raw material extractionthrough disposal) has gained significant ac-ceptance as a policy instrument and basisfor evolving regulatory mechanisms – mostnotably in the European Union.

Stabilised utility prices and availabil-ity. Going beyond simple cost savings andregulatory regimes, hoteliers can deploymore efficient equipment and alternativeforms of utility production to hedge againstfuture price increases in utility costs. This ap-proach is especially important in geographiclocations with developing or unreliable infra-structure, to prevent a compromised guestexperience in the form of power cuts or sub-standard water quality.

Marketing/Brand image. Most of themajor hotel brands have incorporated somefashion of sustainability platform into theirbrand definition. Sustainability initiatives are

With challenging economicconditions still existing in manymarkets, hoteliers often lackthe time and resources toproperly evaluate the businesscosts and benefits ofinvestment into environmentaltechnologies and sustainabilityinitiatives. HVS contends thatthese potential investmentsrequire the same pragmatic,analytically-based evaluationas any other business decision– focusing on the minimisationof risk and optimisation ofreturn on investment.

has been less successful to date - based onHVS' recent conversations with hotel execu-tives, most guests still select lodging basedon location, amenities, price, and brand rep-utation. There has been somewhat greatermarket penetration for certification programswithin the corporate travel sector, especiallyrelating to the growing field of green meet-ings and conventions.

Guest experience. Hoteliers are increas-ingly understanding that investments inenvironmental technology can have a directpositive impact on guest experience, whichcan affect both occupancy and ADR. Thenew generation of ‘intelligent’ HVAC systemsand energy management devices, coupledwith a properly managed maintenance re-gime, can result in significant improvementsin thermal comfort and indoor air quality -for both guests and employees. Improve-ments can also be realised in the indooracoustic environment, where noise frombuilding equipment such as fans, boilers andcompressors can negatively impact the guestexperience.

Employee retention. The adoption of asustainable corporate culture can provide adistinct advantage in terms of attracting andretaining talent. A 2007 survey conducted bythe U.S. employment website Monster re-

routinely demonstrated in both marketingmaterials and annual reports (for publiclytraded entities). Several brands have beenrepositioned to cater to a younger generationof more environmentally and socially-con-scious customers. The effectiveness ofenvironmental certification programs to im-pact facility selection at the consumer level

HOSPITALITY REPORT

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RepresentativeFiscal and EconomicIncentives Providedfor Development ofGreen Buildings☛ Tax credits☛ Waiver of development fees☛ Cash incentives forachieving certification☛ Public investment in new orimproved infrastructure☛ Grants to cover the soft costsassociated with green design☛ Low interest loans☛ Expedited plan review bybuilding departments☛ Permissions for additionaldensity

vealed that 80 percent of young professionalsare interested in securing a job that has apositive impact on the environment, and 92percent would be more inclined to work fora company that is perceived as “environ-mentally friendly” (Source: Monster.com,2007). Anecdotal evidence within the hospi-tality sector points toward higher employeeretention rates amongst corporations where‘green ethics’ are prominently displayed andadhered to within the workplace.

Investor requirements. Investors inboth public and private companies are in-creasingly looking for quantifiable indicatorsof sustainable performance, which has ledlarge public corporations such as IBM andWalmart to adopt strong sustainability pro-grams with measurable performanceindicators. Sustainability has emerged as aninvestable concept, with the underlying as-sumption that “corporate sustainabilityleaders achieve long-term shareholder valueby gearing their strategies and managementto harness the market's potential for sustain-ability products and services while at thesame time successfully reducing and avoid-ing sustainability costs and risks.” (Source:Dow Jones Financial Indices website).

Needs of the Hospitality SectorBased on the growing number of factors thatwill drive sustainability efforts within the hos-pitality community, a coinciding series ofneeds will have to be addressed to providehoteliers with the resources to implement en-vironmental and social initiatives at theirfacilities. HVS identifies several of the mostpressing of these needs as follows:

Access to financing. For asset managersand property-level decision-makers, lack of fi-nancing is often cited as the main reasonmany hotels are unable to take advantage ofenergy-efficiency opportunities. Hoteliers aregenerally more willing to take on CAPEXprojects when third-party funds are available.The use of alternative financing mechanismssuch as energy savings agreements (or similarnovel investment vehicles) will be essential inencouraging a critical mass of environmentalimprovement projects at the global level.

Vetting and confirmation of technolo-gy. Within the past decade, a tremendousnumber of green technologies have been in-troduced into the marketplace. Withnumerous vendors and differing technolo-gies (including emerging forms of alternativeenergies), hospitality owners require vetting

and confirmation of these technologies asbeing cost effective and contextually appro-priate for hotel and lodging use.

Benchmarking and Auditing. Bench-marking provides a means to evaluate facilityperformance against similar facilities to pre-liminarily ascertain the potential foroperational performance improvements(and associated OPEX savings). Benchmark-ing can be utilised to support basic facilitymanagement decisions such as whether toinvest in a facility audit and/or building com-missioning investigation. Detailed,investment grade audits can provide a funda-mental tool to assist owners and operators inunderstanding the technical and financialimplications of environmental retrofits andemployee training initiatives.

Financial analysis to facilitate in-formed CAPEX decision making. Althoughsignificant technical information exists, verifi-able information regarding the financialaspects of environmental investments is muchmore difficult to find. To effect proper deci-sion making, hoteliers require simple life-cyclebased analyses of potential investments, ideal-ly classified or ordered according to capitaloutlay and ROI criteria.

Simplified procurement and projectimplementation. Another complicating fac-tor in the lodging industry is the fact thatthere is often no central procurement author-ity for environmental equipment andtechnology – each project and property isbid out separately by different vendors andconsultants. The design/bid process can betremendously detailed and time consump-tive, and is therefore not prioritised byowners. Streamlined procurement andproject implementation processes wouldlikely result in a significantly greater numberof retrofit projects.

Operational training. Even after invest-ment is made into environmental

technologies (whether from a newbuild orrenovation perspective), efficient design de-cisions do not always equate into efficientoperational practices. It is critical that atransition be made between the designteams and the actual building operators.This can be accomplished via detailed,technical training of relevant staff,which can facilitate improved environmen-tal performance while reducing resourceconsumption.

OpportunitiesHVS believes that sustainability has penetrat-ed the market to the extent where it impactsnearly all aspects of hotel ownership, includ-ing both development and operations. Thenumerous drivers toward sustainability thatwere identified in this article indicate a grow-ing correlation between sustainability andfinancial performance – we anticipate thatthis connection will continue to strengthenover the coming years.

The hotel and lodging community ispoised to embrace sustainable operationand development as a means not only to pre-serve our environment, but also to optimiseefficiency, realise cost savings, improve em-ployee morale, enhance guest satisfaction,and manage investor expectations. ■

Sustainability attemptsto balance financial, social,and environmental factorsto facilitate responsiblebusiness decision makingover the immediate andlong term.

HOSPITALITY REPORT

16


INTERNATIONAL REPORT

(Cannes and Hanover) progressed in 2011.The rare drops in occupancy with respect to2010 are minimal, largely less than 1 point.

This strong demand justified a significantimprovement in the average daily rate (formany cities around 4% and more), an indica-tor of the shift of the vast majority ofEuropean cities into the upper part of thehotel cycle. Only a few German cities (Berlin,Leipzig, Munich, Nuremberg), Italian cities(Florence, Turin) and Spanish ones (Bilbao,Madrid, Saragossa) activated the rate dynam-ic to boost or relaunch demand.

The question mark bears on the prolonga-tion of the slump observed in year-endbusiness. The degradation of national econ-omies, the concern about the impact of debt,and austerity measures have an evident ef-fect on the average slump observed inEurope where the OR and ADR3 fell into thered last December. Past experience taughtthat the midscale and upscale segments re-acted more visibly to the change ineconomic climate. In cities where the weightof these categories is preponderant (CentralEurope, Scandinavian countries, Spain andItaly…), the stabilizing effect of the economyhotel segment was impotent. ■

Europe is facing the challenge of renewing its hotel supply and of takingback comfort over distribution by the hotel operations.

points over 2010, which was already in astrong recovery over the crisis of 2009. Theprize goes to the international gateways, cap-itals and business cities: Amsterdam, Berlin,Ghent, Hamburg, London, Munich, Paris andZürich, which flirt with or surpass an OR2 of75% across the year. With an OR close to 85%London beats all records, and is close to sat-uration. At the bottom of the table, Spanishcities (Saragossa, Seville) and Italian ones(Bologna) reflect the difficulty of the nationalmarkets. Even cities with highly seasonal busi-ness that depends on exhibitions and fairs

The year 2011 closes with positive indi-cators for hotel business throughoutthe European Union, with an average

of 5.6% growth in the RevPAR as a result ofincreased occupancy combined with growthin average daily rates. And yet, the dynamicthat was seen until Spring 2011 slowed in thelast quarter.

It is important to observe that for the 27countries in the European Union plus Swit-zerland, the results of the hotel business for2011 are positive. No country closed the yearwith a downturn for its reference indicator -the RevPAR1 – even if there is a broad rangebetween stagnation in Switzerland (+0.4%)and strong improvement in Poland (+9.4%).While on the one hand Switzerland is al-ready positioned among the highest levels ofperformance, on the other Poland occasion-ally benefited from its six-month presidencyof the European Union. The European coun-tries with the strongest hotel activity – UnitedKingdom, France, Germany or the Benelux-are positioned within a tighter range: be-tween 4% and 6% growth, which betterreflects the state of Europe's marketplace.

With an average European occupancy ratehigher than 66%, hotel occupancy gained 2

The prize goes to the gateways,capitals and business cities:Amsterdam, Berlin, Ghent,Hamburg, London, Munich,Paris and Zürich, which flirt withor surpass an OR2 of 75% acrossthe year. With an OR close to85% London beats all records,and is close to saturation.

The city of London beats allrecords with an OR of over 85%.

European Hospitality Results for 2011:Between Satisfaction and a Question Mark

European Hospitality Results for 2011:Between Satisfaction and a Question Mark


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We understand the next big step for ITCHotels is the Grand Chola opening inChennai? What will this property mean for

the city of Chennai? What value proposition wouldthis bring to travel and tourism to the South?Yes, The ITC Grand Chola is slated to debut shortly in Chennai. Theconcept of the hotel weaves in the strongest elements of the cultureof Tamil Nadu to provide to the city its first iconic hotel, both in ar-chitecture (product) and experience. ITC Grand Chola will beChennai’s first 600-room integrated super premium luxury hotel com-plex with 10 food and beverage destinations, 1.0 lac square feet ofconvention and banquet space, Kaya Kalp – ITC Hotels’ signature spabrand and a preview theatre amongst other facilities. It is locatedclose to key business districts of Chennai, in the direction in whichthe city has been developing over the years. The hotel has been builtto cater to the needs of a diverse audience be it the MICE segment,dining featuring ITC’s signature culinary brands and novel conceptsin international cuisine, among others.

Our unique value propositions, including the differentiated char-acter of our hotels, coupled with indigenous Indian experiences iswhat makes every ITC Hotel part of a unique collection of hotels andan archetype of the culture and ethos of the region that it is locatedin. Take the case of Bangalore for example. Both the ITC Windsorand the ITC Gardenia each capture and symbolize distinct character-istics of the city. The introduction of the ITC Grand Chola is in manyways a culmination of an experiential tourism offering, beyond pro-viding mere accommodation.

There is fresh supply to Chennai, from Grand Hyatt,Leela and also from hotels like Lemon Tree? Are wemoving towards being over built? How do you see thehospitality scene in Chennai in the near future?We are of the belief that supply drives demand. The hospitality indus-try in Chennai is not being overbuilt, as it has the least number of fivestar rooms compared to other major metros in the country. So where-as it may momentarily seem that a large injection of inventory wouldcreate an imbalance of supply and demand, we are confident thatthe equation will even out.

What happens to the Chola, the first ITC property?We believe this is meant for a new avatar?The Chola is rebranded as ‘My Fortune’, a first, within the Fortunebrand portfolio catering to the upscale business traveller.

What impact did Gardenia have on Bengaluru? Whatkind of values did this hotel bring to the hospitality

INTERVIEW OF THE MONTH

In an increasingly competitiveenvironment where international anddomestic hotel chains are trying tooutdo each other, Nakul Anand,Executive Director, ITC Ltd, appearsconfident and bullish. He talks aboutITC, expansion plans and travel andtourism in the country...

NAKU

L AN

AND

char

ting

the

road

ahe

adat

ITC

Hot

els


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As Executive Director on theboard of ITC Ltd., NakulAnand is in charge of the

hospitality, travel & tourismbusinesses of ITC. He has beenentrusted with the mantle offructifying ITC’s expansion plans forthe hotels business.

In the summer of 1978 this young,enthusiastic Economic (Hons)graduate from Delhi University,holding a distinction of an AMPDegree from Bond University,Australia, joined ITC Hotels’Management Training Programme.

Recipient of the ‘Green Hotelier’award by the International Hotel &Restaurant Association (IH&RA), aUnited Nations officially recognizedworldwide industry body; hiscommitment to the environment isevident in the contemporary greenpractices adapted at ITC Hotels. Hepioneered the concept of‘Responsible Luxury’ in thehospitality industry.

With a career spanning threedecades with ITC, he is widelyrecognized as a ‘Man of Action’ witha strong emphasis on creating aresult-oriented work culture. He iswidely recognized for excellentpeople management and teambuilding abilities besides infusingthe spirit of action and a resultoriented work culture. He is a firmbeliever in value based strategiesand has created a unique qualitycontrol model of OperationalExcellence and also introduced SixSigma quality standards. NakulAnand has initiated some veryinnovative concepts in hotelieringmaking ITC’s hotel businesssynonymous with the best in theworld.

ITC Hotels has been a game changersince its inception. We may have been theyoungest among Indian chains, but we wererecognised as the fastest growing chain thecountry within the first decade of inception.


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When ITC made its foray into the hospitality industry itintroduced many ‘firsts’:

☛ ITC Hotels was the first hotel chain to introduce brandedaccommodation and room categorization in the country based onmarket segmentation with the introduction of the ‘Executive Club’

☛ ITC Hotels was the first chain to enter into an internationalfranchise agreement on a chain wide basis.

☛ We launched the country’s first frequent guest loyaltyprogramme.

☛ The first to recognize food and beverage as part of a hotelexperience we conceptualised brands that are today’sinternationally acclaimed, like Bukhara, Dum Pukht and Dakshin.These brands truly put India on the global culinary map.

☛ We were the first to introduce airport lounges on a nationwidebasis.

☛ The first to introduce concept hotels with architecture thatwas unique to the region. ITC Mughal, Agra was the country’s firstrecipient of the Aga Khan Award for Architectural Excellence.

☛ In the service industry where you cannot patent service, theonly way to stay ahead is innovation…ITC Hotels went on tointroduce the concept of ‘hotel within a hotel’ with the ‘Towers’category. We soon followed this up with the ‘ITC One’ category.

☛ We were the first chain to be accredited with British SafetyCouncil Five star rating for our hotels.

The Many ‘FIRSTS’ from ITC Hotels

☛ We also pioneered the concept of laboratories – WelcomLabwith microbiologists in our hotels, to ensure the highest standardsof hygiene.

☛ A special wing dedicated to and catering to the specific needsof the single lady traveller – EVA, was a first in India, over a decadeago.

☛ As an organization we practiced sustainability much before itbecame the buzz word. The WelcomEnviron programme wasintroduced over two decades ago manifesting into the ‘ResponsibleLuxury’ ethos at ITC Hotels. We took on the ardous challenge ofimbibing our learnings on sustainability into our older propertiesand in a short span of one year we secured LEED Platinum ratingsfor all ITC luxury hotels. A distinction that paved the way for aglobal recognition; the ‘Greenest Luxury Hotel Chain in the World’.

20


Bukhara

Kaya Kalp Spa at The Mughal Agra

Dakshin


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scene in that city, and also to the south in general?ITC Gardenia was the first to embody ITC Hotels’ ‘Responsible

Luxury’ ethos, amalgamating luxury and sustainability to usher in anew era in the global hospitality industry. The impact therefore hasbeen more global than regional.

Its recognition and accolade for being the finest luxury hotel inthe country and for the World’s First and Asia’s largest LEED Platinumrated hotel, bears testimony to this fact. The hotel’s unique architec-ture (eco embedded product), its indigenous experiences and itslocation has made it the preferred hotel for discerning travellers intothe city. The dining experience at the hotel is in keeping with ITC’sculinary excellence with brands like Kebabs & Kurries, West Viewand the latest addition to ITC’s international cuisine portfolio; EDO -Japanese restaurant & bar, have created an indelible impression onthe city with numerous accolades to their credit.

What next after Chennai? And how will theseforthcoming projects make the difference? How willthey break new ground?The growth trajectory will be across our four brands with close to

5000 rooms in the next 5-7 years. There are as many as 40 hotels un-der various stages of development, which will be either owned ormanaged by us under one of the four brands. In addition to ITCGrand Chola, in the immediate future we have 2 ITC hotels plannedin the super premium luxury segment; a 400-room hotel adjacent tothe ITC Sonar in Kolkata and a luxury resort at the ITC Classic Golf

Resort. On the anvil is also an ITC hotel close to Mahabalipuram.Our strategy is to clearly focus on a few niche areas and provide

unique and differentiated value propositions to our guests. We haveleveraged the unique advantages that India has to offer in terms ofdiversity and heritage. Our different brands will cater to the emerg-ing needs of travellers in different parts of the country.

ITC Hotels is pioneering the concept of providing luxury accom-modation in cities like Ahmedabad, Bhubaneshwar and Amritsarwhich were hitherto not considered as sought after markets in thiscategory. What is also special about India’s growth story is that it isnot limited to the big metros. What we are seeing is inclusive devel-opment that is taking place through superior connectivity and betterinfrastructure in the Tier II cities.

How do you see the travel and tourism scenedeveloping both in terms of business travel and alsoin terms of tourism? We have noticed that most ofyour growth has been in the business and metrocities and not in tourism areas?1. India’s economic growth story is here to stay. This will continue

to drive international and domestic business travel for atleast theconceivable future.2. The growth in the economy is driving an unprecedentedgrowth in business travel which is fuelled by the almost decadeold Indian growth story....This has spurred the demand for premi-um luxury hotels for business travel. This is evident in the fact thatas much as 70% of the occupancy in the luxury segment todaydenotes the business traveller – a segment that was at 10-15%, adecade ago…3. The economic growth in the country is empowering a large sec-tion of the Indian middle class. We are seeing an unprecedentedgrowth in domestic tourism.4. Although some of the developed economies that are currentlyexperiencing recessionary trends are not likely to recover overnight,the awareness of India as a destination and the devaluation of the


What is special about India’s growth story is thatit is not limited to the big metros. What we areseeing is inclusive development that is takingplace through superior connectivity and betterinfrastructure in the Tier II cities.

22


rupee will offset some of the drops that we may experience in in-bound tourism.

ITC Hotels vision at the time of inception was to be positionedas the preferred chain for the discerning business traveller. Thisvision has driven our investments and growth plans over the lastthree decades. With the introduction of our new hotels we will, inthe course of the next few year, consolidate our position in mainmetros and Tier II cities with critical inventory across our multiple

brand portfolio. While pursuing this, we are constantly evaluatingpotential opportunities in leisure destinations as well like Goa andKerala to name a few.

India is yet to make its mark as an internationaltourism destination. Much debate has happened.But we are yet to get started. What do you think isthe real problem?India is still probably known, from the tourist point of view, more forthe Taj Mahal than anything else. Whereas this must continue, weneed to start developing and marketing new tourism assets that willhelp us market the country to a more diverse group of global tourists.This in my opinion is the single most important priority for us.

Demand is predominantly seen for destinations like Agra, Rajast-han, the Himalayas, Goa and Kerala. We have adequate appeal inother parts of the country as well. What is called for is a change inmind set that looks at tourism in a holistic manner and experiencesthat go beyond our monuments. This coupled with better Air, Rail,Road and Hotel infrastructure is what will make travel within thecountry not just possible but also pleasurable. We have to developin a structured manner so as to be able to accommodate the demandthan will arise from marketing India as a destination.

It is generally believed that the Indian experience isgetting more and more westernised and has lost theIndian touch. ITC was the first to start the ‘kitchensof Hindustan’ concept. We had the paan shop and

the Mithai shop. Where have these relics gone andwhy? What do you feel about the Indian experience?I do not believe that India is compromising on the Indian experienceto the foreign guest. In fact the contrary may hold true. The India oftoday is not limited to its monuments and rural culture. The interna-tional traveller is today seeking international experiences in anindigenous environment and I believe the hospitality industry in thiscountry is rising to this challenge. Infact, this is what has driven ITCHotels’ strategy right through of offering indigenous experiencebenchmarked against the best in the world.

Is the Indian hospitality industry sufficiently alive totrends in the international marketplace? I mean theindustry, not the top 4 or 5 players. How can theindustry contribute more effectively to India’s tourismefforts?The hospitality industry in India is highly evolved not only on theservice front but also in product design, features and technology.Because of the international nature of our business, the industry notonly stays abreast but is also recognised as setting benchmarks in theglobal hospitality industry.

The budget segment of the industry in our country is also comingof age with leading hotel brands adding structure and substance tothis huge area of opportunity that existed for many decades. This ishowever a continuous process and the Indian hospitality industry willhave to continue to keep pace with evolving trends. ■

by NAVIN S BERRY


The international traveller is today seekinginternational experiences in an indigenousenvironment and I believe the hospitality industryin this country is rising to this challenge.


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Hyatt Regency Pune recently won Travellers’ Choice Award byTripAdvisor. General Manager, Gadi Hassin talks about the hospitality

market in Pune and what makes the hotel a traveller’s choice, and more...

FORMULA FOR THRIVING INA COMPETITIVE MARKET

Hyatt Regency Pune has managed to geton its first year of operation a significantshare of the market business. With strong

support from our worldwide sales office as wellas our national sales team and cross sales fromour sister hotels in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Goaand Kolkata we are placed in a strong position tolead Pune's market both on rate and occupancyin 2012.

Our mission to be recognised as the preferredhotel and residence in Pune and to establish aninternational high standard of operation, has re-cently got rewarded with the prestigious.

Trip Advisor, Travellers’ Choice 2012 Award asone of the Top 25 Hotels to stay at in India. Wehave put Pune on the hospitality map of India aswe are the only hotel in Pune and the only Hyattin India to be in this prestigious ranking.

USP of the Hotel: At Hyatt Regency Pune, thecombination of hotel guest rooms and fully ser-viced luxury apartments in one hotel togetherwith large, high end banqueting and conferencefacilities combined with international operationsstandards of the Hyatt brand and exceptionalfood and beverages outlets, are surely a uniquemodel in the city and as such offer anunmatchable product.

Pune Hospitality Market: In terms of hospitality,the significant growth in room supply in the pre-mium segment of hotels has been absorbed by themarket demand to a large extent. The occupancyrate has seen a minor dropyear on year for 2011, never-theless, the last quarter of theyear has seen a slight in-crease in occupancy (forexample in December 2011the occupancy rate in thepremium segment was 54%Vs 53% in Dec 2010).

The increase in demandwas mainly due to two fac-tors: First, the growth of

individual business travellers to Pune, driven bythe strong growth of the city business in general.Second - significant growth in the MICE (meet-ing, incentive, conferences and exhibitions)business, mainly from feeder markets likeMumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, that are lookingfor attractive, new destinations to conduct theirmeetings. With our state of the art conferenceand banqueting facilities, easy accessibility andcompetitive rates compared to tier-1 cities, weare a preferred destination for corporate clientsto conduct their annual meetings and seminars.

As room supply is not expected to grow anyfurther in the next 18 month, as opposed to thedemand that will continue to grow (both inMICE and individual business traveller seg-ments), it is most likely that the occupancy ratein the premium segment hotels will see an in-crease in 2012 and likewise an adjustment of theroom rate upward compared to 2011. An opportu-nity to develop Pune as a leisure market mainlyon the weekend is also on the rise where moreand more people travel from Mumbai to Pune fora retreat during the weekend or holidays.

Experience in India: I have enjoyed the ex-perience of working in India and believe Indiais the place to be in the next decade in terms ofthe potential growth in general and in the hos-pitality segment in particular. Hyatt has recentlyopened new hotels in Chennai and Goa andwill open a few more during 2012 in

Hyderabad, Hampi,Chennai and even onemore in Pune (HyattPlace Hinjewadi).

The company is focus-ing on India which meansmany more opportunitiesto develop and grow forany talented, driven,young individual that seeshis career and future inthe hospitality industry. ■

“An opportunityto develop Pune as

a leisure marketmainly on the

weekend is also onthe rise where more

and more peopletravel from Mumbaito Pune for a retreatduring the weekend

or holidays. . ”

GUEST COLUMN

24


The Lalit Group’s

KESHAV SURI ONGROWTH PLANS

ONE-ON-ONE

What are some ofthe changes youhave brought aboutat The Lalit, New

Delhi ever since you took over?The biggest change is Kitty Su (the night-club) of course! Apart from that, I have beengreatly involved in the Suites Tower that TheLalit New Delhi is going to launch shortly.

Also, the entire music selection in the ho-tel is by me, I introduced the i-pod dockingstation in the rooms. All the rooms and backareas of the hotel have hand sanitizers,which is once again my input.

What are your current expansionplans across the country?We are quite excited about The Lalit Jaipur,which would be launched in next 1-2months. After that, would be The Great East-ern Kolkata in 2012. Also, we are looking atsetting up our mid-segment budget hotelswith the brand name The Lalit Traveller. Thefirst in the series will be rolled out by nextyear. In the next three to four years, we planto set up around 25 mid-segment budget ho-tels across India with inventory ranging from25 to 90 rooms. The destinations we have fi-nalised so far are Drass, Amritsar, Jalandhar,Bhuj, Jamnagar, Mundra, Kandla, Vadodara,Maninagar, Pune and Mangalore.

Tell us about The Great EasternHotel in Kolkata and the progresson that front. When can weexpect it to launch?The renovation work for the hotel is on fullswing. We are planning a soft launch by Nov12, 2011 and the complete launch by 2013.

Lalit Suri’s son, Keshav Suri, the executive director of the Lalit SuriHospitality Group shares with Hotelscapes his future plans, the

current execution and his slow metamorphosis from beinga creative thinker to a thorough entrepreneur.


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Your first pet project that got suchwide media publicity is a nightclub.What inspired you to launch Kitty Su?I was disillusioned with the existing party sce-nario in the city, so I decided to give myselfand Delhi a chic nightspot to party. I have trav-elled around the world, and thus, I have beenable to develop Kitty Su as a truly global des-tination, at par with international standards,offering the definitive in modern club cultureexperiences. No stone has been left unturnedto ensure that the club offers the definitive incontemporary nightclubbing and partying ex-perience. It confidently sets new standards andraises the bar for the rest to follow.

Kitty Su with its much talked about

bathroom lounge is still anothernightclub at the end of the day.How do you think it’s going tomake a mark in that category?There are many things that differentiate KittySu from rest of the nightclubs: The club’sname itself is an innovation. It is the first andthe only club in India that takes inspirationfrom a character and has its soul. The décor ofthe club is a subtle amalgamation of ancientand modern. It is the largest night club in NewDelhi with an area of 13,000 sq ft. For instance,on one hand the club has Khajuraho sculp-tures giving it a temple-like feel while on theother hand there are unique art installations in

the club by renowned contemporary artists.We’ve also given special attention to the lav-atory experience unlike other night clubswhere washrooms are never a pleasant site.Washrooms are a part of the dressing roomarea, wherein, one can go inside sippingchampagne. Also, the washrooms showcasethe Club’s inimitable range of branded mer-chandise including chic t-shirts and footwear.Another first is the access controlled VIP area– The List. The A- listers and their privacy aretaken care of; the who’s who of the societynever have to worry about paparazzi here. Es-pecially made electronic key cards have beenpresented to all of the select A List membersto enable them free access to and from the‘The List’ area. Kitty Su can play different va-

rieties of music at one point in time. Also, onecan plug his/her own i-pod in The List and theMain Club area to play the music of their ownchoice.

You just celebrated 100 years ofThe Grand in Kashmir. How do youfeel about a family project beingpart of a historic moment? Arethere any plans around carryingon extended celebrations?I feel extremely proud. I am happy that myfather took over the Palace in 1998 – I feelthis is one of his best investments. As thegroup ethos goes, we develop destinations

and not just hotels and in Kashmir too wehave taken lot of initiatives to promote tourismopportunities in the region. We organised‘Valley of Legends’ last month where crowingjewels of Indian cinema were invited to relivetheir memories in the Palace and to bringback the lost glory to the local people. Wealso organised Shikarathon few days back onDal Lake in Srinagar, where we encouragedlocal Shikarawalas to participate in the race.

Now that you have talked aboutdeveloping destinations whereveryou have developed hotels, couldyou tell us about the work done inspecific places, for exampleKhajuraho. How do you propose to

expand on this in future?Keeping in mind the philosophy of “promot-ing destinations & not just hotels”, the groupconceptualised the idea of organising Polomatch in Drass, the second coldest habitaton earth. After the Kargil War in 1999, Polowas abandoned in Drass. Determined to putthe destination and the sport on the maponce again, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group,in August 2009, organised for the first time,the match of Polo between The Lalit teamand the Drass local team, under mountainrules. Since then, The Lalit Suri Polo contin-ues every year, with around 5000 localsgathering every year to watch the match. The

Kitty Su, Keshav Suri’s brainchild, is the largest nightclub inthe Capital

ONE-ON-ONE

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Lalit Art Festival is another step taken by thegroup towards developing Khajuraho as atourist destination and providing employ-ment to local people. This started with thecommencement of The Lalit Temple ViewKhajuraho in the Year 2008. During the festi-val, renowned artist like Raja Radha Reddy,Shubha Mudgal, Shoving Aryan, Sharon Lo-wen, Sharmishtha Mukherjee are invited fora cultural program that provides opportunityto the locals to display and present localhandicrafts, jewellery, handmade pottery artworks from the village and local flavours.

Another innovative initiative by the groupis The Lalit Utsav at The Lalit Resort & Spa

Bekal. A platform dedicated to promoting thelocal culture and tradition, the 2-day festivaloffers locals an experience to explore thingslike the sumptuous Delhi chaat, colourful ban-gles, bindis, traditional mehandi, exquisiteduppatas, handmade suits from Jaipur andLucknow and Kasargod sarees. Another initia-tive in Bekal is The Lalit Suri KabaddiTournament. To energize youth and to giveimpetus to the local game Kabaddi, the groupis organising the second season of The LalitSuri Kabaddi Tournament this year in associ-ation with District Kabaddi Association.

Every year the group kick-starts its year-end festivities with The Lalit Suri FootballCup, part of the group’s Festival of Canaco-na, at The Lalit Golf & Spa Resort Goa. Thegroup endeavours to involve the local popu-lation as it feels that the benefit of theprosperity that comes along with the openingof a luxury hotel can act as an economicmultiplier for that region. Also, a part of the

festival are The Lalit Suri Beach ExhibitionPolo Goa, which brings people together forPolo as entertainment and a spectacle of aglorious Indian Equestrian Heritage and TheCarnival Ano Novo celebrated on January01st every year with colourful floats, over 200costumed folk dancers of the region, lots ofmusic and a spectacular parade.

What about Rajasthan, wherehotels play an important role inthe tourism map of the country?The group under its “Unified Celebrations ofIndia” initiative, organises Holi Party at The La-lit Laxmi Vilas Palace Udaipur. The core

objective to organise this three day festival isto let the guests and local people experienceand appreciate Indian culture and also partic-ipate in the festival. All these initiatives havegrown bigger with each passing year. Withsupport from locals and encouragement fromauthorities in each region, we hope to takethese events to greater heights and accom-plish our objective of developing destinations.

Tell us more about your interest inF&B. What are the changes youare bringing about in that area?Since today’s customer is well travelled, Ihave made sure that we provide in our hotelsthe best food and beverage, at par with bothinternational and Indian standards. I havebeen greatly involved with setting up 24/7Restaurant & Bar. It was my thought to equipthe bar with a wine cellar and have the cof-fee shop open all night since most peoplethese days get time to go out only late at

night. Similarly, the Baluchi revamp was an-other milestone. We introduced the conceptof Indian Food & Wine Pairing which no oth-er outlet has done so far. We have the IndianBread Bar at Baluchi where you get breadslike nowhere else. Besides these, I encouragemy F&B teams to constantly innovate thefood that we are serving to our guests. That’swhy we bring different cuisines to our restau-rant like Czech, Spanish which interest people.

You also have many other interestsin art, cinema etc. Are theseareas that the Lalit as a group islooking to promote in a big way

apart from the ongoing projects?We have always been committed to promot-ing art in India. My mother Dr. Jyotsana Suri,and I are avid art lovers. We have Art Junc-tion at The Lalit New Delhi, with which weaim to give a platform dedicated to promot-ing talent from across the country to sharetheir visions through the medium of innova-tive interpretations. It has till date displayedworks of over 5,000 artists and exhibits a col-lection ranging from paintings (oil; watercolours; charcoal etc), sculptures and instal-lations to photographs. Recently, weorganised the second season of “Nai Um-meed – The Art Festival” at the hotel. Thetwo-day art festival provided a cultural bridgebetween Indian artists and art galleries, artcollectors and connoisseurs with an objec-tive to create a dialogue that wouldintroduce a fresh perspective and buoyancyamong art collectors. ■

as told to SANGHITA SINGH

Satish Gujral at Nai Umeedat The Lalit New Delhi

Luxury house boat, Kettuvallam atThe Lalit Resort and Spa Bekal

ONE-ON-ONE


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Executive Lounge at Jaipur Marriott rewards the most loyal customers

FORUM OF THE MONTH

Wooing Guests with

CLUB FLOORS &LOUNGES

Wooing Guests with

CLUB FLOORS &LOUNGES


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It’s passé for hotels to entice guests withroom upgrades. Lounges and exclusive floorsare among the attractive fringe benefits whichthe hospitality industry is offering these days.While rooms on a club floor are often thesame size as rooms on other floors, the flooritself is usually located higher, affording betterviews and a quieter ambience. Club orexecutive lounges (which typically requireupgraded room bookings or frequent guestprogram memberships), offer a host of add-onfacilities aimed at providing convenience andexclusivity. Perks include private meetings withclients, free meals, private parties andconcierge services among others. Here’s abrief look at these new value-adds that hotelsaround the country have on offer.

Courtyard by Marriott,GurgaonRajneesh Kumar, Manager, Food &BeverageThe concept of club floor with happy hoursis meant for the comfort of our guests who,after having a long day at work, would like torelax and unwind themselves over cocktailswhile enjoying the selection of appetizers.The guests can also catch up with theiremails using the complimentary wi-fi serviceand feel like being at home in the cozy atmo-sphere that gives you a feeling of home awayfrom home. The concept helps the guests tomix business with leisure in a homely atmo-sphere. We have a wide selection of spirits,wines & cocktails, along with a huge spreadof appetizers which keeps changing every-day of the week. A selection of softbeverages and mocktails is also available forguests who are teetotallers.

We have extended happy hours till 8 pm

FORUM OF THE MONTH

“We have extended happyhours till 8 pm at Bar Zen

for our resident guestswherein they can enjoy

2 drinks at the priceof one.”

RAJNEESH KUMARMANAGER, FOOD & BEVERAGE,

COURTYARD BY MARRIOTT

“An executive Lounge wouldhave the best possible viewof the hotel along with an

option of American Breakfastand evening cocktail hours.

Executive Floor guestswould also get an

opportunity to host privatemeetings for 2 hours for

their company or for self.”

ANIMESH BARATDIRECTOR, FOOD & BEVERAGE,

JAIPUR MARRIOTT

at Bar Zen for our resident guests whereinthey can enjoy 2 drinks at the price of one.We keep changing our offerings frequentlyand periodically at the club floor for ourguests to find it exciting, this year we alsoplan to introduce happy hours on importedbeverages for the guests at Bar Zen. We havewell designed marketing tools such as in-house collaterals which helps us to reach outto travellers.

Jaipur MarriottAnimesh Barat, Director,Food & BeverageExecutive Lounge is a dedicated venue des-ignated for all Executive Floor and VIPcustomers of the hotel. This venue is de-signed to meet the needs of a businesstraveller and also to provide them an exclu-sive venue to engage and entertain theircustomers and clients. An executive Loungewould have the best possible view of the ho-

❏ A room on the hotel club floor (or executive or VIP floor) is an upgraded room.Whatever the term the hotel uses, these accommodations enhance guest's stay.Hotel VIP room and club floor guests can anticipate early check-in and latecheckout, rooms with extra amenities, and – best of all – a club floor lounge withcomplimentary food, liquor, business center, and other welcome perks.

30


The Regency Club Lounge at Hyatt Regency, Pune is perfect for a private party

tel along with an option of American Break-fast and evening cocktail hours. ExecutiveFloor guests would also get an opportunity tohost private meetings for 2 hours for theircompany or for self.

Executive Lounge is a concept to recogn-ise and reward our most loyal customers.

At Jaipur Marriott, we shall be soonlaunching our Executive lounge that shall bea privilege offered to guests staying in the Ex-ecutive room category and above. Theperfect environment to work at ease or justsit back and relax. On offer shall be compli-mentary buffet breakfast, hi-tea andhappy-hour services daily. The buffet break-fast includes Continental breakfast with avariety of fresh cut fruits and fresh fruit juic-es, choice of breads, cereal, cold cuts,pastries, cheese, tea and coffee. One canalso enjoy sandwiches and pastries during hi-tea along with a choice of tea, coffee andjuices. During the Happy Hours, both alco-holic and non-alcoholic beverages areoffered on-the-house with canapés and horsd’oeuvres. Besides this, the ExecutiveLounge shall be well equipped to take careof photocopying, sending faxes and arrang-ing for private meetings in the multiplemeeting venues.

We shall have signage and posters for theExecutive Privileges places at strategic pointsin the hotel like the front desk, elevators, F&Boutlets etc and also our team shall be trainedto apprise the guest of the same.

Hyatt Regency, PuneOnkar Singh, Director, Food &BeverageAt Hyatt Regency Pune, we pride ourselveson the myriad of facets guests experienceevery time they visit our hotel. Right from therooms and delectable cuisines in our multi-specialty restaurants to our spa and fitnesscentre, our guests quite literally add varyingfacets to their stay whilst with us.

What’s unique to Hyatt Regency Pune isour sprawling lounge area. The RegencyClub Lounge, as it is called, primes as theperfect venue for an after-hours rendezvous,a private party or an evening of pure indul-gence after a tiresome workday. We offer thechoicest selection of complimentary eveningcocktails and canapes for Club Room guests.

Located in the emerging hub of Pune,the hotel is home to multi-specialtyrestaurants that offer a delectable range ofIndian, Italian, Asian and Internationaldining options, a wonderful bevy of desserts

“The Regency Club Loungeis a perfect venue for an after-hours rendezvous, a privateparty or an evening after a

tiresome workday. We offerthe choicest selection ofcomplimentary evening

cocktails and canapes forClub Room guests.”

ONKAR SINGHDIRECTOR, FOOD & BEVERAGE,

HYATT REGENCY PUNE


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Relax and unwind at the upscale Sheraton Club Lounge

as well as intimate bar settings with liveentertainment.

The unique ‘Hyatt Experience’ is renownedworld-over. Hyatt Regency Pune leaves nostone unturned in ensuring that guests and pa-trons are provided with every comfort andluxury. With the latest technologies available tothe business and leisure traveller, privatecheck-in and check-outs, Gold Passport offer-ings and many other exclusive Hyatt specialfeatures go a long way in giving our guests anindelible ‘Hyatt Experience’!

Starwood Asia PacificHotels & ResortsRajan Bahadur, Regional Director,Sales & MarketingThe Club Lounge experience is integral toour luxury and upper upscale hotel brands.Club Lounges provide an exclusive spaceand come with enhanced and upgradedamenities.

Our global powerhouse, Sheraton Hotels,has recently injected $108 million into up-grading 120 Club Lounges around the world,including high-profile properties across theworld. The enhancements to Sheraton ClubLounges – one of the most popular Sheratonsignature amenities – are a key component

of the brand’s recent $6 billion revitalisationeffort. Sheraton Club Lounges brand-wideare open seven days a week in response toincreased demand from premium corporateand leisure guests. Sheraton Club guests havespecial access to the Club Lounge. A relax-ing, upscale space, the Club Lounge offerscomplimentary breakfast, afternoon horsd’oeuvres and a variety of beverage options.Take advantage of the private Club Loungewhere you can connect with friends, meetwith your team, or simply relax by catchingyour favorite TV show. Need to get somework done? A copier/fax/printer and compli-mentary office supplies are ready to go.

Sheraton Club Lounges are rated as one ofthe top two benefits of staying at a Sheratonby Starwood Preferred Guest members, whoaccount for half of all Sheraton hotel book-ings. In addition, 50% of Sheraton loyalists likethe option of purchasing an upgrade to theSheraton Club experience, which is availablefor an average of $75 extra per night. Sheratonboasts a greater percentage of hotels withClub Lounges than its rivals, with the majori-ty offering spectacular views, in addition toupgraded Club amenities: complimentarybreakfast, afternoon hors d’oeuvres, beverageservice, flat-screen television, Wi-Fi, a selec-

“At a time when ourcompetitors have scaled

back their offerings, Sheratonhas done the opposite. We

decided to invest even furtherin our global portfolio with

significant enhancements toour Club Lounges.”

RAJAN BAHADURREGIONAL DIRECTOR, SALES & MARKETING,

STARWOOD ASIA PACIFIC HOTELS & RESORTS

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The Executive Floor Lobby at Hilton Hotel, New Delhi-Noida-Mayur Vihar

“In order to pamper ourexecutive guests, we offerthem ‘The Executive Floor

rooms’. Located on the13th floor, it offers an

enhanced level of service,comfort and conveniencefor business and leisure

travellers.”

T P SREEJITHDIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS,

HILTON AND DOUBLE TREE BY HILTONNEW DELHI NOIDA-MAYUR VIHAR

tion of daily newspapers and more. As stated by Hoyt Harper, Global Brand

Leader, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts Worldwide,Inc. “At a time when our competitors havescaled back their offerings, Sheraton hasdone the opposite. We decided to investeven further in our global portfolio withsignificant enhancements to our ClubLounges in order to deliver a higher level ofproductivity and luxury to our guests, notjust on weekdays, but every day of theweek. And our timing couldn’t be better.Travel has returned to pre-crisis levels andtravellers are once again focused onupgraded amenities and services as keyelements of the guest experience.”

Hilton HotelsT P Sreejith, Director of Operations,Hilton and Double Tree by Hilton NewDelhi Noida-Mayur ViharHilton has always moved with time and be-lieved in providing the most advancedservices and facilities to its guests. From beingthe first hotel that offered a telephone in theguest rooms till date, we continuously strive todeeply study the needs of the traveller and, inreturn, fulfill them in the best possible way.

In order to pamper our executive guests

at Hilton New Delhi-Noida-Mayur Vihar, weoffer them ‘The Executive Floor rooms’. Lo-cated on the 13th floor, it offers an enhancedlevel of service, comfort and convenience forbusiness and leisure travellers. There is a24hours service at the executive floor, whichgives them access to its services at any con-venient time.

At DoubleTree by Hilton New Delhi-Noi-da-Mayur Vihar, we welcome our guests witha warm chocolate cookie. For 25 years thebrand DoubleTree by Hilton has been bak-ing these signature chocolate chip cookiesfor travellers all over the world. It says “Wel-come” in so many ways. There is somethingspecial about a warm, yummy chocolatechip cookie and that is why we give one toevery guest as they check in. It’s our way ofshowing you how much we care.

Hilton and DoubleTree by Hilton New Del-hi-Noida-Mayur Vihar are two, modern andadvanced technologies equipped five star ho-tels. For a smart business traveller, keeping inconsideration vital requirements, both theproperties have wireless high-speed internetaccess throughout the hotel. When the basicsare met, we believe in providing maximumcomfort and luxury to our guests through re-mote guest room printing, remote controlled


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The Upper Crust Lounge at The ITC One hosts the popular Champagne Ritual

“ITC Maurya’s exclusivelounges are perfect place tosit back and enjoy a drink

after a long day’s work or tosimply relax while you catchup on your book reading orhold a quick meeting. Eachlounge is in harmony with

the premier accommodationbloc it services.”

ANAND RAOGENERAL MANAGER, ITC MAURYA

curtains in their rooms and blinds in the bath-rooms. The hotels are well equipped with 24hours business centres in the respective prop-erties that enable a futuristic business travellerto be on top of his work at any given time.

ITC MauryaAnand Rao, General Manager

ITC Maurya’s exclusive lounges (PresidentialSummit Lounge, ITC One Upper CrustLounge and Towers Club) are the perfectplace to sit back and enjoy a drink after along day’s work or to simply relax while youcatch up on your book reading while somefind the calmness of the lounge conducive tohold a quick meeting. Each lounge is in har-mony with the premier accommodation blocit services.Presidential Summit Lounge (On The 14thFloor): A private haven for Heads of the Stateand other distinguished guests, the lounge hasmultiple features to suit your every need. Thestate-of-the-art businesss centre comes withthe finest video conferencing facilities and fullsecretarial support. You can discuss importantevents within its silent environ or nurse a drinkas you view the magnificence of Delhi’s greatgreen ridge from the summit windows. It hous-

es a state of the art business centre with videoconferencing facilities.The Upper Crust Lounge at The ITC One:Elegantly furnished with wood panels andthick carpeting, the plush Upper CrustLounge is exclusively for guests staying at theITC One annexe, Mauryan Chambers andSuites. The lounge offers you the comfort ofyour own private living room with tea, coffeeand cocktail hours in the evenings. It offers14 varieties of teas along with the Chef’s sig-nature snacks served on a Tea Charlie toguests. The Champagne Ritual is what allguests at the Upper Crust look forward to. Bytradition this is timed around 6:30 pm. Theritual has to be seen to be believed.Towers Club Lounge at The Towers: TheTowers Club, reserved exclusively for the Res-idents of the Towers, houses a bar, a library, 3board rooms and a restaurant offering totalprivacy which is open for breakfast, lunch anddinner and also has a private terrace with out-door seating. A perfect place to mix businesswith pleasure! Choose to reserve the exlusivemeeting rooms or choose your book from thelibrary and relax, The Towers Club has a veryloyal following and is also seen as a perfectvenue to host a private dinner.

compiled by PURVA BHATIA

34


CHAIN ANALYSIS

Best Western

100 HOTELS ININDIA BY 2017

Best Western is on an expansion spree in India. As the chain plans toadd 66 new hotels in the country within the next five years, we tell you

all about Britain’s biggest independent group of hotels.


| 35

est Western, lead mostly by In-dians, knows the market well.We are confident of meetingthe hospitality needs across all

segments of travellers in India,” says DavidKong, President and CEO, Best Western In-ternational Inc, USA. Kong is here toannounce the company’s expansion plansin the country. The company plans to open10-15 hotels every year in India. The focuswill be on metros as well as Tier 2 and Tier3 cities. “We are committed to grow by in-creasing our market presence in thecountry, focusing on new areas of growth,investing in local partnerships, communitiesand people,” says Best Western Internation-al Inc chairman Devang Amin.

Brand segmentation is the order of theday in hospitality sector. Following thetrend, the chain recently segmented intothree brands in order to cater to meet thedifferent market needs: Best Western, BestWestern Plus and Best Western Premier.

The three tiers have been, apparently,developed on extensive guest feedback. Sixkey areas define the tiers: welcome, food

CHAIN ANALYSIS

“B

Best Western: This remains thebackbone of the group and showcases whatthe brand represents – a group of hotels withtheir own personalities, offering qualitystandards, comfort, personal service andgreat value.

History of Hospitality ExcellenceThe chain, having started operations in 1946,has an experience of over 65 years. “It hasmore history than any hotel chain,” saysKong. With this history and experience, thechain hopes to have competitive edge inthe business.

Best Western was founded by M.K. Guer-tin, a California-based hotelier with 23 yearsof experience in the lodging industry.

It began as an informal referral systemamong member hotels. By 1963, BestWestern was the largest chain in theindustry, with 699 member hotels and35,201 rooms. In 1964, when Canadian hotelowners joined the system, Best We7sterntook the first step toward global expansion.Best Western entered Mexico, Australia and

Presence in IndiaThe chain has 30 properties in operationand under development in India, spreadacross the key business, leisure and reli-gious Metro as well as Tier II destinations ofthe country. The seventeen operationalproperties in India are Ahmedabad,Amritsar, Baddi, Gurgaon, Manesar, NewDelhi, Zirakpur (Chandigarh), in the North.Bangalore, Hyderabad, in the South. Goa,Neral (Near Mumbai), Pune, Shirdi & Suratin Western India and Kolkata inEastern India. Best Western in India re-cently set up its Best Western Centre ForHotel Management and Training atBhubaneshwar. The two BW Premier prop-erties in India are operational at Bangaloreand Kolkata and two BW Plus Properties aregoing to be operational in Lucknow andJaipur by December, 2011.

Upcoming/UnderConstruction Hotels☛ Signet Hotels Private Limited,

Navi Mumbai☛ Best Western Dream Hotels, Kolkata☛ Best Western Madhuban Inn,

Aurangabad☛ Best Western Celebrity Hotel,

Hyderabad☛ Signet Hotels Private Limited,

Bhubaneswar☛ Best Western Bahri Beautiful Country,

Kodaikanal☛ Signet Hotels Private Limited, Bangalore☛ Best Western Zamboligalli, Goa

“Best Western, lead mostlyby Indians, knows themarket well. We are

confident of meeting thehospitality needs across all

segments of travellers inIndia. The company plansto open 10-15 hotels every

year in India. The focus willbe on metros as well asTier 2 and Tier 3 cities.”

DAVID KONGPRESIDENT AND CEO, BEST WESTERN

INTERNATIONAL INC., USA

and drink, customer service, bathroom, sleepand work and entertainment. The Best West-ern tier sets the standard for these key areasof hotel experience and Best Western Plusand Best Western Premier build upon thiswith additional amenities and personalitydriven offerings.

Best Western Plus: These hotels are ev-erything you would expect from a BestWestern hotel with extra style, comfort andservice. This includes bigger beds and topquality bedding, extended breakfast rangewith local specialities, little treats on arrival24 hours a day, bathrobes, additional compli-mentary toiletries and increased comfort andtechnology to make working and relaxing inthe room even more enjoyable.

Best Western Premier: The finest of thegroup’s hotels with a focus on luxury, styleand outstanding service, these hotels are spe-cifically chosen for their memorable quality,design and impressive facilities and consistof nine British hotels and 134 hotels.

36


New Zealand in 1976, further establishing itsinternational presence.

Special Programs for the BestWestern GuestAll Best Westerns around the globe provide aguaranteed standard of 17 (14 internation-ally) of the most frequently requested guestamenities and services. They include: freehigh-speed Internet access, continental or hotbreakfast, free local phone calls (up to 30minutes) and long distance access, iron andironing boards, hair dryers, coffee/tea makersin all rooms, 50 percent designated non-smoking rooms (20 percent international),complimentary toiletries available uponrequest (razors, toothpaste, shaving cream,sewing kits), bottled or canned wateravailable on-site, photo copies available on-site during business hours, king-sized beds ina minimum of 10 percent of rooms (queen-size bed international), clock in all guestrooms, in-room music, upgraded shampoosize and at least one English speaking TVchannel at international locations.

All Best Western hotels in the UnitedStates, Canada and the Caribbean offer freehigh-speed Internet access to guests. This wasimplemented in 2004.

CHAIN ANALYSIS

Hotels in IndiaCurrently, Best Western India has 34properties in operation and various stagesof development. The chain is planning toadd hotels mostly in the four and five-starcategories in the country within the nextfive years, entailing an investment of Rs1,600 crore. These hotels will be spreadacross the country in the metros, other citiesand small towns with a focus on keymanufacturing and trading cities.“Discerning high-end travellers, used tostaying in 5-star hospitality, are unable tofind suitable accommodation in Tier II citiesin India at the moment. With BW plus, weendeavour to fill this gap in the market. Thecompany has made commitments to itspartners in India and helped them set-upworld class properties in each category theyoperate in,” says Sudhir Sinha, President &COO, Best Western India.

While the chain primarily targets businesstravellers, the hotels also cater to the needs ofleisure travellers. Best Western India hotels inBangalore, Gurgaon, Mathura, Moradabad,Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune feature state-of-the-art meeting rooms that can comfortablyaccommodate up to 100 to 600 attendees. ■

by PURVA BHATIA

“Discerning high-endtravellers are unable to findsuitable accommodation inTier II cities. With BW plus,

we endeavour to fill this gapin the market. We have made

commitments to ourpartners in India and helped

them set-up world classproperties in each category.”

SUDHIR SINHAPRESIDENT & COO, BEST WESTERN INDIA


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38


With increasing spending power, Indians areincreasingly becoming discerning about what they eat

and how they eat, says Manish Choudhary

THE DINING OUT CULTUREIN INDIA IS EVOLVING

If there’s hope, optimism and growth, it is inthe hospitality industry and it comes as nosurprise that even in times of global reces-

sion, this is one sector that continues to rake inthe profits. Part of that success is attributed to fall-ing rentals, decreasing prices of raw materialsand therefore, lesser investments towards thatend. However, rentals have jumped back to nor-mal and inflation hasn’t quite helped thesituation, but sound fundamentals in structureand operations are separating the quality prod-ucts from the ‘splash for a while and die’ ones.This is one sector that will continue to grow, andis also going to play a major role in swinging tour-ism favourably towards India.

Industry-talk aside, it is good to see a greatnumber of people heading out for lunches, din-ners, special and regular evenings and for justabout any reason. The number of pubs in Banga-lore is close to 2000, Delhi is witnessing a spurt ofalmost 3-5 new place per week and cities consid-ered typically tier 2 or tier 3 – like Lucknow,Jaipur or Mysore – have plenty of grand hotelsand strong stand-alone restaurant and players totalk about. We have recently opened up TC inJaipur; we were quite apprehensive about howthe market would react to a Delhi product,which has Thai, Oriental and Europeancuisine and is rock music driven. Jaipursurprised us with a massive positive re-sponse. Our sales in Jaipur make Delhilook weak, almost on a daily basis andthat in itself says a lot about people’sspending patterns and tastes.

From a pub point of you, we are alsopleasantly surprised by our guests’ evolvingdrinking preferences. The importedalcohols are now a norm, not an exception.Guests know exactly what they want andthe reason they prefer certain tastes. And ifyou thought pubs were all about the beer-drinking culture, then that’s not the case –wines are also quite popular. While the In-

dian knowledge of wine is not quite up to inter-national standards and we still carry a FrenchChardonnay hangover, the growth and under-standing is slowly taking place.

Guests also want their dining out to be an‘experience’ – so even if its Indian or typical Chi-nese food, they want something special in whatthe F&B offer for that evening is. With Indian food,they’d like a flair in the ambience or concept toround off their experience with Chinese, theywant more specialised cuisines so its now in therealm of Sichuan, Huanan, Cantonese and evenDimsum specials. Even with pubs, the comforts ofthe chicken tikka are out – from sports bars serv-ing Mediterranean and European cuisine, to TCserving only Thai and Chinese to othersspecialising in molecular gastronomy, there’s a lotto offer and guests are lapping it up with pleasure.Guests also like well-done concepts. Rainforestcafé, Planet Hollywood or Buddha Bar are passé,because India is developing its own unique ver-sions. Hinglish in New Delhi is a Colonial café thatdoesn’t serve Anglo-Indian and that also remainspopular with the youngsters despite being colonialin its food preference. Route04 comes equippedwith every last element of the ‘American diner’ –from muscle car designs on the walls to a ‘Bumble

Bee’ from transformer occupying the space.And there’s a new Indian restaurant – Rangde BasantiDhaba – that even comes with atractor inside to add to the fun.

What’s the most important trend in thehospitality sector today is that the producthas to be thorough in its F&B and design,it must also make sound financial senseand have complete backing from amarketing and public relations point ofview. Flash in the pans, incompleteproducts and those that make hugeinvestments to be the flavour of themonth won’t last too long. ■

The author is owner, TC – AdhciniAnd Jaipur (Director, Adaab Hotels Ltd)

“The importedalcohols are now a

norm, not anexception. Guests

know exactly whatthey want and thereason they prefercertain tastes. ”

GUEST COLUMN


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40


The traditional system of wellness, Ayurveda has madea comeback supported by the scientific techniques

in the form of Spas, says Pooja Puri

CHANGING TRENDS INSPA CULTURE

There was a time when spaswere limited to getting abody massage done, butnow the changing trends in

spa culture have widened thehorizons of treatments offered byspas. Spa now means a sense ofperfect balance and harmony ofbody, mind and soul. It not onlyoffers a feeling of calmness andserenity but also treatments for anumber of diseases; a skin, or amental disease.

We all can see that the trends inIndia are changing with each day.The spa culture has gained a greatsignificance over the years. They areno more restricted to the peoplefrom high socio economic status buthave also spread its root acrosssociety. I personally feel that theincreasing stress hectic schedulesand busy routines have givenhumans a very lethargic lifestyle. Butat the end of the day every humanwants to get relaxed and refreshed toregain the charisma of their body.They want to get rejuvenated andrelieved from the stress they comeacross in their day to day life be it atwork or on the home front. Treatmentslike oriental, Balinese, Swedish, ayurvedic etc are someof the treatments that help you to get refreshed and re-energized. These treatments help to relax muscles,aching joints and calm the fatigued nerves. The therapistapplies intense pressure concentrated on areas oftension and pain to relieve your body from stress. Spasalso offer treatments that can help you to regain thecharm of your body. The most common treatments thatthe spa offer like berries hydrating glow facial, organicclean up of champagne, anti ageing facial etc help youto get a healthy glowing skin.

The success of a spa depends highly upon howpleased your guest is and his overall experience postand pre treatment. Anyone can go and get a spa

treatment done from any spalocated in the city but what makesthem come back to the samelocation is the experience whichshould ideally exceed theexpectation. Customer satisfactiondepends upon a number of differentfactors like the quality of services aspa provides, the quality of productsbeing used, the ambience of a spa,among other. It may even dependupon how knowledgeable is the spaprofessional. Say for instance, if wetalk about a therapy called‘ShiroDhara’, how much a customeris satisfied with it will depend upondifferent factors like the quality ofthe oil used, height of the bed, thedistance between the pot and theforehead. Most spas collect the oilused in shirodhara for reuse. This isnot right – shirodhara oil is for onetime usage only as it can spreadvarious dermatology relatedinfection. All these factors determinethe level of customer satisfactionand the success of a spa in thecompetitive market.

The growth of spa culture in Indiahas even driven spas to homes.People now desire getting their own

home spas at their place. Due to lack of time they can’tafford to visit the spas but at the same time increasingstress demands a need of spas. As a result they find itquite convenient to get their own home spa. A place thatis secluded and has minimum disturbance and noiselevel and ample amount of natural light is used to createa spa like environment.

According to me spa industry is one of the boomingindustries. It can be a lucrative platform for the aspirants.One can have a good scope of career in this emergingfield. Due to demand of spa goers, a number of spas aremushrooming all over the city which can give mileage tothe ones who want to opt for being a spa professional. ■

The author is Director, Mystic – Lifestyle Spa

“The spa culturehas gained a great

significance over theyears. They are nomore restricted to

the people from highsocio economic

status but have alsospread its root across

society.”

GUEST COLUMN

40



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GUEST COLUMN


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The spa culture in India hasgained increased significanceover the years.

42


I n less than a year of its launch, TheOberoi Gurgaon has already won the‘Oscars’ of the travel and tourism busi-ness – the World Travel Awards. It has

been named World’s Leading Luxury Hotelfor 2011. The Oberoi Gurgaon is the first Indi-an luxury hotel to make it to the prestigiouslist based on votes cast by 210,000 industryprofessionals around the world.

“This is indeed a very proud moment for

us. To win this accolade is an affirmation ofThe Oberoi Group’s unwavering commitmentto offering guests world class facilities and un-surpassed service standards. I accept thisaward on behalf of my entire team who workpassionately to give our guests warm, person-alised and caring service,” said KapilChopra, Executive Vice President, TheOberoi, Gurgaon & Trident, Gurgaon. “Awardssuch as these will encourage more interna-

tional corporate brands to have their boardmeetings at The Oberoi Gurgaon,” he added.

The awards, given out at a ceremony at theKatara Arts Village in Doha last month, alsorecognised India as the world’s leading desti-nation (staving off the competitors -- London,New York, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro andSydney), Dubai’s Burj al-Arab as the leadingall-suite hotel, Etihad Airways as the leadingairline (for the third year in succession), and

LUXURY

THE OBEROIGURGAON

Sets New Benchmark for Luxury Hospitality


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Comment on the success of TheOberoi, Gurgaon since opening?The Oberoi, Gurgaon opened in April, 2011and redefined the hospitality landscape ofthe city and National Capital Region. With itsstunning new contemporary design, spaciousaccommodations and best-in-class amenitiesand service, the hotel has won accoladesand positive reviews since its opening.

If we look at the business side, The Oberoi,Gurgaon has been the only hotel in recenttimes to have topped the RevPar charts in thecountry in just 6 months since its opening. InNovember, 2011 the hotel clocked occupan-cy of 73% at an average room rate of Rs17,502 and a RevPar of Rs 12,888, the highestin the country. This has been a record of sorts.

The hotel has won awards at every presti-gious awards function since its opening. Wewere chosen as the ‘Hotel of the Year’ byHindustan Times (October, 2011). We were

‘We have Redefinedthe Hospitality Landscape ofthe City’: Kapil ChopraJust after winning the prestigious award,Hotelscapes catches up with Kapil Chopra, ExecutiveVice-President, The Oberoi Group on what it takes tocreate a successful and winning formula

Tell us what was this award for?The ‘World’s Leading Luxury Hotel’ awardrecognizes and acknowledges an iconic ho-tel that has set new benchmarks in luxuryhospitality and offers a unique experience toguests. The world travel awards are consid-ered the ‘Oscars’ of the travel industry. Thisyear votes were cast by 213,000 travel profes-sionals including travel agencies, touroperators as well as discerning consumers inmore than 160 countries across the globe.

Who were the competitors?There were 22 leading luxury hotels whowere nominated along with The Oberoi, Gur-gaon for the awards in 2011. These includeThe St. Regis New York, USA; Burj Al Arab,Dubai, UAE; The Dorchester, London, UK;Raffles Makkah Palace, Saudi Arabia; BulgariMilano, Italy; Bulgari Resort Bali, Indonesia,and Ritz Carlton Santiago, to name a few.

Changi as the leading international airport.Launched in 1993, World Travel Awards ac-

knowledge and recognise excellence in theglobal travel and tourism industry. Now celebrat-ing its 19th anniversary, it is regarded as the veryhighest achievement that a travel produce couldhope to receive. Votes are cast by travel profes-sionals including travel agencies, tour andtransport companies and tourism organisationsin more than 160 countries across the globe.

LUXURY

44


also chosen by Virtuoso network as the ‘Ho-tel to watch out for’ in their Best of the BestAwards (August, 2011).

We also won the Times Travel Awards inOctober, 2011 and were voted Asia’s LeadingLuxury Hotel by World Travel Awards, Octo-ber 2011. Our restaurants, Threesixtyone?and Amaranta, have both won the best res-taurant awards by Hindustan Times.

The Trident Gurgaon has been atrend setting hotel for manyyears. What has the addition ofThe Oberoi meant to the complex?Trident, Gurgaon has been Asia’s LeadingHotel and India’s Leading Hotel in 2011. Withits scenic, resort-like setting, it is a relief to theGurgaon landscape as well as an attractivedestination for business and leisure travelers.

Trident has been a market leader in the

city of Delhi/NCR in Occupancy and Revparterms. With the success of the Trident, it wasfelt that there is a growing demand for a lux-ury experiential hotel in Gurgaon. That ishow The Oberoi, Gurgaon was conceived.

We now have a 16 acre hospitality destina-tion with two iconic hotels – one with itscharming resort ambience and the other astunning and contemporary hotel with thevery best of amenities for the discerning trav-eler. The two hotels complement each otherwell. Between both properties, we now have 338rooms, 11 banquet venues and 5 restaurants.

We are able to offer our guests more pricepoints and a choice of room categories, in-cluding the most spacious rooms in the city.

Within the 16 acres, we are able to en-hance guest experience. It is almost like aguest paying for one hotel, but enjoying theexperience of two.

What is this ‘luxury’ quotient thatyou are courting?Luxury is something you experience, some-thing intangible. The Oberoi, Gurgaon is ahotel that offers a distinct hospitality experi-ence to guests. It is designed on 3 tenets ofHeight, Light and Space, which we believe,offer a luxury experience.

Let me give you an example of space. InDelhi and Gurgaon, you look at any 5 stardeluxe hotel and the ratio is 100 rooms over1 acre. If you look at The Oberoi, Gurgaon ithas 202 rooms over 9 acres. This is what Imean by exclusivity and the luxury of space.

Some other luxury features include:■ The most spacious, naturally-lit accommo-dations along with efficient and personalizedservice.■ An urban oasis – a serene setting with over3 acres covered with a forested driveway,

gardens and water bodies.■ Each room and bathrooms offer stunningviews of either the reflection pools or thelandscaped gardens.■ Each room has a personal butler service.Our butlers are trained by the Guild of Profes-sional English Butlers, UK. They also trainbutlers at Buckingham Palace.■ The City’s first 24-hour spa ensures you al-ways have flexibility of time.■ Luxury transfers in BMW 7 Series fleet ofcars, owned and operated by the hotel.■ A luxury retail arcade which houses lead-ing international brands, an internationalsalon featuring a hair spa by Italian maestro,Rossano Ferretti and a Pedi:Mani:Cure studioby French Podiatrist, Bastien Gonzalez.■ We offer amongst the largest wine-by-glassprogrammes in the city in our restaurants,patisserie and the bar. Complimentary wine

tasting sessions are also offered at the winelibrary.■ Threesixtyone?, our all day dining restau-rant features five show kitchens and offers adramatic dining experience. Our chefs fromSichuan and Canton in China offer authenticfare from their regions while our Japanesemasterchef carves platters of sushis and sash-imis at the Japanese kitchen. The Teppanyakigrill adds to the element of culinary dramawhile the large ovens serve hot and freshlybaked bread to your table. Guests can alsodine on floating teakwood decks over thevast water body lit by fire torches in the eve-nings. All this makes threesixtyone? anexperiential gourmet destination.■ Amaranta, our contemporary Indian coast-al restaurant serves cuisine from nine coastalregions of India. The restaurant also servesfresh seafood flown in daily from the portcities along India’s vast coastline. For a land-locked city of Delhi, this is a unique, luxuryexperience in dining.

How much is India ready for luxury?Statistics say that luxury market in India isconstantly expanding. It is expected to growat an average of 5 to 10 percent betweennow and 2013. But if we look around, it seemsits growing faster than that! It is just not aboutthe luxury goods market or the brands; it isalso about recognizing luxury as somethingunique and distinct. Something that enhanc-es one's experience and may not be tangible.

Also, we must understand that luxuryneed not be expensive. Discerning guestsappreciate ‘value’ more than cost. TheOberoi, Gurgaon, for instance, has all the lux-ury amenities but it is priced rationally whereguests see it as a value proposition. If youcompare it to other major cities around theworld – New York, London or Paris, you arepaying much less (USD $450 a night) at TheOberoi, Gurgaon, for larger rooms, better fa-cilities and a much more unique stayexperience.

Today, at The Oberoi, Gurgaon, when wequote for international business, we do notcompete with hotels in Delhi or Gurgaon.Our global clients have the choice of doingtheir board or strategy meetings across Asiain Singapore, Hong Kong or Tokyo. We com-pete in this market and hence this award ofthe ‘World’s Leading Luxury Hotel 2011’ byWorld Travel Awards vindicates our position-ing further. ■

by NAVIN S BERRY

LUXURY


| 45

Talent CrunchRetaining a well-trained and astute workforce isone of the biggest challenges facing the industry.As competition mushrooms in the form of bothfive star deluxe properties as well as stand-alonebrands that are now entering the Indian market,poaching the crème of the lot who have beenmoulded into a persona that matches the caliberof the brand is rampant.

Measures including a well-thought career pathfor star performers, intensive training for thosewho require an extra nudge and constant teambuilding exercises are only some of the measuresadopted to counter the challenge of increasingtalent turnover.TechnologyAt a time when new media such as the web hasovertaken all other channels as source of infor-mation, we are constantly tasked with monitoringour performance and the contribution of theseonline channels towards our revenue objectives.In addition, guests are now tuned into websitessuch as TripAdvisor to read guest reviews of anyhotel they are scheduled to check into. Hence,constant engagement with guests on social mediasuch as these is also important.

We are actively involved in responding toguest comments and queries on such websites.This is an important measure taken by us as oth-er guests make their decisions of staying at hotels based on thesecomments and posts. We are also in the process of launching ournew website, which will help address this dynamic environment.Sources of BusinessFor the same reasons as mentioned above, the sources of businessfor the hospitality industry is rapidly evolving. While with the evo-lution of much developed OTAs and GDS systems, brand visibilityis enhanced, the challenges faced are also multiple such as the OTAdemanding a higher commission model than the traditional travelagents, thus leading to a dilution of hotel revenue. It is also a timewhen we are reviewing the role that the traditional travel agentsplay in our business and ways of deepening that engagement.

We are currently looking at tying up with Meta search sites that directthe guests to the Hotel’s official website, giving us the opportunity to

There are several concerns that the hospitality industry in Indiais currently grappling with. Biswajit Chakraborty lists out the

key issues that need immediate attention…

CRITICAL ISSUES FACINGINDIAN HOSPITALITY

“Although basedin the heart of the

city’s newcommercial district,

one of the mostcommon grouses I

hear from almost allour guests is the timeit takes to get to our

property. ”

showcase our product better. We have also forgedpreferred partnerships with TMC’s on a global lev-el thru our GHA programme.CompetitionIn a market that is gradually rising up to the horizonsthrown open by global brands and opportunitiesentering the country and the potential that it holds,competition comes in the form of not just interna-tional hotels but also global restaurant brands.With a reach across continents, multi-brand culinaryportfolios, a plethora of offerings in terms of chefsand opportunities for employees pan-India, andpan-global, this is today one of the biggest chal-lenges even from a guest loyalty point of view.

With a constantly evolving F&B offering, where-by we review our menus bi-annually bringing ininternational chefs to present a different experi-ence for our patrons, globally well-known conceptsto our guest’s table, opening up regular channelsof communication with our food aficionados tokeep them abreast of developments at the hotel.InfrastructureAlthough based in the heart of the city’s newcommercial district, one of the most commongrouses I hear from almost all our guests is thetime it takes to get to our property. The ongoingconstruction on the arterial roads, the traffic situ-ation at most crucial junctions have onlycompounded the problem. This has not only

hampered movement of potential guests in the vicinity, but also de-ters investment into the area.

As far as possible, we have tried to factor the situation around toimprove our offering to the guest. From amenities such as a fullyequipped business centre, wireless internet connectivity, meetingrooms to conduct one's business discussions in peace and a culinaryexperience par excellence to entertain one’s clients in, we have triedto ensure our guests have to step out as little as possible. And whenthey have to, our all-new BMW fleet will make their journey comfort-able. In addition, The Leela Mumbai is also considered as an oasisof tranquility in this bustling city, where guests can come and unwindafter a long day amidst 11 acres of lush landscaped gardens, cascad-ing waterfalls, the lotus fountain and the calm poolside. ■

The author is General Manager at The Leela Mumbai

GUEST COLUMN

46


SOCIAL MEDIA

a man on a mission. He tried to sell me theproduct, but what excited me more, was hisexalted vision, attitude and determination.He was sure that what he had created wasthe best (He reminded me of my times whenI was setting up the Pizza Chain with Dr. VijayMallya) and was very clear of his journey anddirection. Our fifteen minute meeting lastedfor more than two hours as I really wanted toknow more and more about this young manand his discovery. To be frank, I was prettymuch impressed by him rather than theBrand and I wanted to be a part of what hewas doing and also of his future plans.

Convinced with Deepak’s presentation, Imade up my mind to get him a hotel and asthe luck would have it a 400 room propertyin Dwarka Sec 10 was looking for a brand.As I had a very convincing case, we decid-ed to visit Bangkok to assess the brand andrest is history.

We drove from airport with flashing po-lice escort all the way to the hotel. On arrivalSpecial Ladies escorted each and every guestto their particular room, explaining every-thing about the Hotel and Bangkok.

The wondrous ‘Lebua’ started hitting usvery slowly. The late night flight landed ear-ly morning Gaurav (Director in DwarkaHotel) and I decided to take a little tour ofthe hotel and have breakfast. The hotel wasvery busy and bubbling with activity, as ex-pected breakfast room with nearly 175 coverwas full. Two smart hostesses were attendingto all the guests, trying to accommodatethem. One of them – very politely – asked memy room number more as a conversationand with a fleeting look gave some instruc-tion to her associate. Next, we saw theRestaurant Manager; a lady executive waswith us in a jiffy she took us to a table about15yards from where we were standing. I

Discovery of a New Galaxy

LEBUA, BANGKOKHotelier Virat Varma Blogs his Views

With his disarming smileand positivity Deepak

appeared to be the perfectpicture of a man on a

mission. He tried to sell methe product, but what

excited me more, was hisexalted vision, attitude anddetermination. He was sure

that what he had createdwas the best and was very

clear of his journeyand direction.

DEEPAK OHRICEO, LEBUA HOTELS AND RESORTS

Back in 1999 it was indeed a matterof pride to become the first Indianever to be approved by RegentHotels for the post of General

Manager of their hotel which they were plan-ning to open in Mumbai – It is besides thepoint at this juncture that I was then workingfor the promoters of the Regent property asChief Operating Officer. The Regent Mumbaiwhen launched was considered as a brandwhich re-wrote the service standards for thecountry, and was rated as the Best New Ho-tel by the Conde’ Nest.

All what I say is because I am quite in aposition to make such a statement freelyand unhesitatingly as I am not only aware ofthe world service standards but also of var-ious aspects that are involved in developingthese services.

My Story about ‘Lebua’ begins with aphone call from Samir Puri – a very dearfriend and owner of Lotus Pond and manyother restaurants in Delhi – requesting me tomeet a friend of his named Deepak Ohriwho represents a fairly large and reputedHotel chain from Bangkok, who were keento come to India, and whether I could be ofany help in the process. This meeting withDeepak Ohri was arranged in Mumbai atGrand Hyatt. As for me, it was more of a cour-tesy call, simply because Samir wanted me tobe present in the meeting for the reasons ofmy understanding of the hotel industry atmacro level and awareness of the dominanceof Indian Hospitality Industry by the AmericanHotel Chains and that the brand world was al-ready crowded – Under such circumstanceshow viable it would be for a lesser knownbrand from South East Asia to venture into theIndian market, was the issue.

With his disarming smile and positivityDeepak appeared to be the perfect picture of

Being a hotelier I have spent most of my life and money visiting and eating out in varioushotels across the world but my experience with Lebua was really an eye opener.


| 47

SOCIAL MEDIA

could see the guest leaving the table, butbefore we could reach, the table was cleanedand properly laid out – a lesson in efficiency.The BF buffet was unbelievably the mostelaborate spread I had ever seen – and wewould not do justice to even one third of it.

Being a hotelier I have spent most of mylife and money visiting and eating out in var-ious hotels across the world but myexperience with ‘Lebua’ was really an eyeopener. I thought Regent Hotel s were theultimate, but for me ‘Lebua’ redefined theservice standards. May be it was wonders ofSoutheast Asia or was it Deepak’s vision.

Over a period of time I made several tripsto Bangkok and stayed at ‘Lebua’. Each ofmy stay was a unique experience, for one I

always saw the staffers fully prepared to greetthe guests. While dining we never had to calla waiter for pouring water or clearance. Theywere there but not noticeable. I found themmonitoring movement/development of theguest on the table from behind the pillars ina very subtle way.

I never saw the house keeping staff tidyup the room, yet every time I returned, theroom was fully serviced. Every staffer, everyexecutive was completely dedicated towardsa singular goal to serve the guest.

As for the food, four Michelin star chefswere working in unison to control the quali-ty and presentation of food. I never saw foodbetter presented, their Breakfast Buffet wasone of the largest I saw. It reminded me ofSunday brunch at a well-known US hotel re-sorts. Usually, I avoid making predictions butwhen I do, God is kind, and they do cometrue and very confidently I can predict thatDeepak Ohri and Lebua hotel is next bestthing that will happen to the world of hospi-tality and soon enough it will make itspresence felt and will become a milestone interms of service, food and hospitality. ■

by ANIL CHAK & VIRAT VARMA

I never saw the house keepingstaff tidy up the room, yet everytime I returned, the room wasfully serviced. Every staffer,every executive was completelydedicated towards a singulargoal to serve the guest.

48


DESTINATION ANALYSIS

P ajab hai, sabse gajab hai”:a campaign that showcasesthe rich cultural heritage ofMadhya Pradesh, the heart of

Incredible India. But the big question is, howincredible is it? The campaign is but whatabout the tourism opportunities in the state?

State and private players are hopeful that Madhya Pradesh will be one ofthe best tourist destinations in India soon. However, is the infrastructure ready

for the tourism boosts the state is aiming for?

Although, MP tourism has pumped in a lot ofmoney to advertise and market its touristdestinations, the investment scene in thestate still leaves a lot to be desired. Thegovernment and private players agree that alot has been achieved but there is a long wayto go. Comparisons with Rajasthan and

Kerala are unfair as MP is still taking babysteps as far as the infrastructure is concerned.Private players feel that there are many areasof concern like, infrastructure, affordablerooms, connectivity to the touristdestinations, branding of the state has to bedone better and more activities have to be

“M

“The average occupancyrate in The Lalit Temple

View hotel in Khajuraho, isjust 14%. Talking specifically

about Khajuraho, insiderssay that it is a one day

destination and there arenot enough activities around

to hold the tourists.”

JYOTSNA SURICHAIRPERSON, FICCI TOURISM COMMITTEEAND CHAIRPERSON & MD, THE LALIT SURI

HOSPITALITY GROUP“The government is lookingat land bank investments,

developing water bodies andislands, converting forts andpalaces into heritage hotels,ecotourism and adventure

sports… various stretches ofland have been earmarked

that can be acquired byprivate investors.”

PANKAJ RAGMANAGING DIRECTOR, GOVERNMENT

OF MADHYA PRADESH

“Tourists have to sufferbecause there are no properguides to take you throughthe monuments and placesof interests. Sanchi, one of

the most important Buddhistheritage sites in India has no

guides, it would be a greatidea if the concept of audio

guides could be introduced.”

ROHIT KOHLIJOINT MANAGING DIRECTOR,CREATIVE TRAVEL PVT LTD

Madhya Pradesh Needs

INFRASTRUCTURALDEVELOPMENT


| 49

The Lalit Temple View Khajuraho

DESTINATION ANALYSIS

developed around the heritage sites.Speaking at Tourism Conclave in

Khajuraho, Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson, FICCITourism Committee and Chairperson &Managing Director, The Lalit Suri HospitalityGroup said the average occupancy rate inThe Lalit Temple View hotel in Khajuraho, isjust 14%. Talking specifically about Khajuraho,insiders say that it is a one day destinationand there are not enough activities around tohold the tourists. Hotels are occupied for aday and then tourists move back to Jhansi orOrchha for more sightseeing.

The government insists that it is trying hardto put a plan in place and improve theinfrastructure in the state sothat more investors getinvolved. But the travel agentsand tour operators insist thatMP does not even have properroads and rail connections tojoin the main touristattractions. For e.g. thedistance between Jhansi andKhajuraho is 172 km andideally it should take 2 hours30 mins but due to the badroad it takes around 3 to 31/2

hours to reach Khajuraho. Ithas an airport and though ithas direct flights from Delhiand Varanasi, there is noconnectivity from Mumbai orother important cities likeBangalore or Kolkata. Railwaylinks to the temple town arealthough good, connecting itto major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkataand Varanasi.

Rohit Kohli, Joint Managing Director,Creative Travel Pvt Ltd says that, other thaninfrastructure, corruption is another majorissue that needs to be tackled in the state.Tourists have to suffer because there are noproper guides to take you through themonuments and places of interests. Hementioned that Sanchi, one of the mostimportant Buddhist heritage sites in India hasno guides, it would be a great idea if theconcept of audio guides could beintroduced so that it is more informative,enjoyable and pleasant for the tourists.Adding to the infrastructure bit, Kohli alsosaid that, government needs to better thesignage network in the state. There are noproper markings that can make the traveleasy for tourists.

The state on the other hand is keen oninviting more private investment in thehospitality sector. Pankaj Rag, ManagingDirector, Government of Madhya Pradeshdetailed out government’s plan for developingtourism and increasing investmentopportunities in the state. According to Rag,“The government is looking at land bankinvestments, developing water bodies andislands, converting forts and palaces intoheritage hotels, ecotourism and adventuresports.” He further added that variousstretches of land have been earmarked thatcan be acquired by private investors on a longterm lease freehold or PPP basis through a

transparent process. Land is available indistricts like Indore, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Satnaamong others.

One of the pioneer ideas that MP tourismhas initiated is the Caravan Tourism. It is thefirst of its kind in India and right now thecaravan plies on three routes, Bhopal-Panchmarhi, Jabalpur-Bandhavgarh andIndore-Mandu-Maheshwar. Caravans are aluxurious way of travelling and equippedwith state of the art technology and safetymeasures. Madhya Pradesh state TourismDevelopment Corporation (MPSTDC) hasfuture plans to promote caravan tourism inPublic Private Partnership mode, whereinthe corporation will provide capitalinvestment sharing upto 25% of the cost ofthe vehicle. Government also plans toprovide camping spaces to the Caravans inthe selected hotels of the state corporation.

Two other very ambitious plans of thegovernment are to convert the forts andpalaces into heritage properties, something thatthe Rajasthan tourism has done successfullyand is reaping benefits and developing waterbodies for tourism development. Theproperties have been identified that would besuitable for conversion and most of themwould be leased out to a private investor on along term, with a clause for renewal in place.Indra Sagar, a huge stretch of water comprisingof more than 50 islands is being developed bythe government for whole lot of fun touristactivities. Bidding for Indra Sagar has alreadybeen put into process and the government is

hopeful of positive results.Although the state is keen on inviting pri-

vate investment in the hospitality sector, theprivate players want a more pro-active andenergetic approach in terms of marketing thewhole state. According to Tejbir SinghAnand, Managing Director, Holiday MoodsAdventures, “MP needs to have a larger vi-sion vis-a-vis marketing. Destinations arebeing advertised in pockets and the state asa whole is being ignored and that is a disad-vantage.” Campaigns according to himshould be done in a bigger way and pack-aged more aggressively.

Though the government and private playershave a whole lot of exciting ideas for develop-ing investment opportunities and in turn boost-ing the tourism sector in the state, it remains tobe seen how these are implemented. ■

by APRAJITA SHISHOO IN KHAJURAHO

50


Food brings people closer! And this was evident at in themidst of the Swiss Alps at the World Economic Forum2012 where business leaders and diplomats exchanged

ideas over steaming hot masala chai and Indian snacks. Thefood was courtesy ITC Hotels, the hospitality partner, has beenan integral part of the India Adda ensuring there was greatfood for thought as minds connected over matter.

While fluctuating economies may have been a subject atthe summit, one thing that did not fluctuate was the big appre-ciation for Indian Cuisine served by chefs of ITC Hotels… theDal Bukhara certainly seems to have gathered maximum fol-lowing from Delhi to Davos. ITC food packets and exclusiveITC Coaster sets were gifted to guests while many delegateswere introduced to ITC Hotels Credo ‘Responsible Luxury’and were given the green brochures. ITC Hotels gathered ap-preciation for its ‘First on Earth’ Initiative, being the first toreceive LEED Platinum certification for all its premium hotels,making it the greenest luxury hotel chain in the World.

Indian Cuisine kept the India buzz alive through each day ofthe conference as ITC Chefs presented the “Best of India” special-ties. These ranged from the Gujarati Dhokla to the Sarson kiMachhi, a Bengali specialty and the popular Punjabi Pindi Cholewith Masala Kulchas, Dal Palak with mixed vegetable parantha,the Subz Shaami Kebab, Jhinga Ajwaini, and Seekh Kebabs andIndia’s traditional Boondi ladoos and Gajar Halwa.

The British Prime Minister, David Cameron halted at the In-dian Adda for samosa and masala chai while Ms Lady Judge,Chairperson, United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority; SirMartin Sorrell, CEO, WPP Group and the Mayor of London,Borris Johnson could be seen enjoying the Indian delicacies.India Inc witnessed the presence of YC Deveshwar, Chairman,ITC; Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman-Bharti Enterprises; RahulBajaj, Chairman-Bajaj Group; Onkar S Kanwar, Chairman-Apollo Tyres. ■

ITC’s Cuisine Charms All atWorld Economic Forum

EVENTS & HAPPENINGS

British PM David Cameron enjoyedsamosa and masala chai

ITC Hotel chefs preparing delicacies at India

Union Minister for Commerce & Industry Anand Sharma

Y.C. Deveshwar, Chairman, ITC


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52


Zinc InVision HospitalityRakesh Mathur has beenappointed as Director and PrincipleAdvisor of Zinc InVision Hospitality.Prior to this, he was the President ofWelcomHeritage.

Mathur has won variousawards for developing andpromoting heritage tourism. Healso founded the EcotourismSociety of India. Mathur is theinitiator of ‘Safe and Honourable

Tourism’, a code of conduct for Tourism ServiceProviders. An active member, he is also the VicePresident of the Rotary Club of Delhi South End Chapter.

The Grand New DelhiShrikant S Wakharkar has beenappointed General Manager of TheGrand New Delhi. With an experi-ence of over 20 years in thehospitality industry, he will be re-sponsible for overseeing andimplementing high operationalstandards at the hotel. Located inVasant Kunj, the property is popu-lar for conferences, seminars andsocial functions.

He has previously worked as General Manager of InterCon-tinental The Lalit Goa Resort, Goa and as ResidentManager of Taj Samudra Hotel, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Hehas also worked with Taj President Mumbai and Taj MahalPalace & Towers, Mumbai.

InterContinentalHotels GroupPascal Gauvin has been promotedas Chief Operating Officer forIndia, Middle East and Africaregion of InterContinental HotelsGroup. Starting 1st April 2012,Pascal will succeed John Bamseywho has decided to retire.

Pascal will be responsible forthe overall operations and growthof the region. He will be reporting

to Jan Smits, Chief Executive, Asia, Middle East and Africa.Pascal has been working with the company for nearly 19years and has held various operational roles, includingVice President Operations.

Le Meridien KochiSreekumar Sekhar has been ap-pointed as the Director of Sales andMarketing of Le Meridien Kochi. Inhis new role, his sales efforts will bedirected towards the achievement ofthe operational goals for the Le Me-ridien Kochi property. He has anextensive expertise in the develop-ment and implementation of salesstrategies in sync with prevailingmarket conditions.He has over 20 years of experience in the hospitality indus-try and has previously worked at the Regant Lake PalaceHotel and Resorts, Kollam.

Hilton WorldwideScott Thomson has been appoint-ed as the General Manager of HiltonNew Delhi-Noida-Mayur Vihar andDouble Tree by Hilton-New Delhi-Noida-Mayur Vihar, operated byHilton Worldwide.

With over 20 years of extensiveexperience in the hospitalityindustry, Thomson was previouslyworking as the pre-opening GeneralManager of Langham Place,Koregaon Park, Pune, which is the company's first propertyin India. He has worked with some of the leading hotelbrands of New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong and Indiaincluding Grand Hotels International, Park RoyalQueenstown and Auckland and The George Christchurch.

Four Points by SheratonVishakhapatnamPatanjali Sharma has been appoint-ed General Manager of Four Pointsby Sheraton Vishakhapatnam. Hebrings with him 26 years of experi-ence in strategy planning, profitsharing operations, sales and mar-keting, business development, clientrelationship management and peo-ple management. His lastexperience was as an IndependentHospitality Consultant with Sanskriti Tours.Sharma has worked with various leading internationalbrands, including Le Meridien, Al Sondos group – Dubai,Radisson, Ankara Hotel and Towers, Almaty – Kazakhstan.

People…


| 53

Le Meridien, CoimbatoreAmit Mitra has been appointed Di-rector – Business Development,Sales & Marketing at the newlyopened Le Meridien, Coimbatore.With an experience of over 15 yearsin the industry, Mitra will bring tothe hotel his expertise in Sales andMarketing.

Previously, he was working asDirector of Sales and Marketing, In-dia with The Ascott Limited. He

has also worked with Park Inn, Radisson Hotels, Chennaiand Le Royal Meridien, Chennai. He holds the PATWA In-ternational Award for “Young Achiever Award-Marketing”from the Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PAT-WA) in ITB Berlin.

Marriott InternationalPaul Rushton has been appointedRegional Director of MICE SalesAsia Pacific of Marriott Internation-al to capitalize on the MICE marketin the Asia Pacific region.

Responsible for design and im-plementation of sales andmarketing strategies for all Marriottbranded hotels in Asia Pacific,Rushton is based in Singapore andreports to Chief Sales and Market-

ing Officer Neelima Chopra. Having worked with some ofthe leading hotels in Jakarta, Dubai, Bangkok, Sydney andSingapore, he brings 25 years of experience in the hospi-tality industry to the table.

Goa Marriott Resort& SpaArti Raghava has been appointed asDirector of Human Resource at theGoa Marriott Resort & Spa. She joinedMarriott as Human ResourceManager in 2009 at the pre-openingof the Courtyard by Marriott,Gurgaon.

Having started her career in thehospitality industry as Front OfficeAssociate in Radisson Hotel Delhi,

her first Human Resources assignment was at The BristolHotel Gurgaon. Raghava has also worked as AssistantHuman Resource Manager at Park Plaza Gurgaon. She

holds a Master Degree in Human Resources from the University ofTechnology, Sydney.

Novotel Mumbai JuhuBeachRanveer Brar has been appointedas Executive Chef of NovotelMumbai. His previous assignmentwas with One World cuisinehospitality group, Boston asCorporate Chef.

With a professional experienceof more than 15 years, he has ledculinary teams of brands like Taj,Radisson, Oberois and Claridges inIndia and USA. He has contributed to a number of cuisines andhas received recognition for the same by AIWF, AICA, James BeardHouse New York City and Mayor of Boston. He also representedIndia at WPF.

Jaipur MarriottVazid Ali Shaikh has beenappointed Assistant Director ofFood & Beverage at the JaipurMarriott. His role is to spearheadand manage complete food andbeverage operations, includingmenu structure, marketing,planning and service.

In his nine years in the industry,Vazid has worked with leadingbrands such as Taj Lands End andJW Marriott Mumbai and holds expertise in the field of Food &Beverage. He holds a Diploma in Hotel Administration and FoodTechnology from Sophiya Polytechnic College, Mumbai.

Goa Marriott Resort& SpaDr. Manjula Shettigar has been ap-pointed Spa Manager of GoaMarriott Resort & Spa. Previously,she was working as Assistant SpaManager at Hyatt Regency Pune.She has worked at the Park HyattGoa Resort and Spa as anAyurvedic Doctor. Here she wasawarded the World’s No. 1 Spa byConde Nast Reader’s Choice Award2006, Best Spa in Asia 2009 and 2010. She has also worked as aDuty Doctor in Manipal and a General Practitioner in Karnataka.

People…

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Charity begins at home; business houses indulge in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The corporate

houses are going all out in making a differ-ence to the society and adding their two bitto the moral fabric of the country and conse-quently helping in nation building.

CSR practices are not only expanding buthotel companies are marrying their CSR pol-icies to their daily practices. While some aregoing green, others are supporting different-ly-abled people and also trying to help asection of society that belongs to the disad-

vantaged group. Although, there are manyother CSR activities that hotels are involvedin, here we have discussed a select few.

Lemon Tree Hotels, for instance, is bring-ing the differently-abled into the mainstream.According to Rahul Pandit, Chief OperatingOfficer, Lemon Tree Hotels Pvt Ltd, the hotelfocussed on this group of people becausethis was one area which promotes inclusive-ness. Disability cuts across society; it canimpact anybody and employing such peoplealso ends the unending debate on talent.“There is so much dormant talent that is nev-er utilised, by employing these people thetalent crunch is tackled and the people getbenefitted. There are about 134 people thathave been employed in our hotels across the

country and the numbers would just increasein the coming years,” says Pandit.

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts haveworked towards CSR in five key areas, mostimportantly being environment, healthy andsafety, supply chain, stakeholder relationsand employees. All these initiatives havebeen incorporated under the label of“sustainability” and every two years, asustainability report is issued to track thesignificant changes in the CSR programmes.According to the latest report, the mostsignificant milestone has been that 77% of

Oberoi hotels have supported the cause ofeducation through programme “Embrace”and approximately 3,370 children have beenhelped through it in the year 2010.

There is no denying that there is an in-creased awareness towards protecting theenvironment. Although, the concept of goinggreen comes from the west, it is fast pickingup in India and hotels are trying to plug inthe green initiatives as much as possible.Even though, it is not directly aligned to theirbusiness motives, environment friendly CSRactivities are much appreciated by the hotelcustomers and are thus given a big thrust bythe hotels. According to industry experts,youths are the next generation customers ofthese hotels and if they are concerned about

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

From environment to helping the under-privileged, hospitality industryin India is increasingly dedicating itself to the cause of CSR and

trying to do its bit for the society.

Emerging CSR Trends in IndianHospitality Industry

an issue, then the hotels are keen on concen-trating on them.

The Leela Palace Udaipur has gone onestep ahead and aligned with United NationsEnvironment Programme (UNEP) and sup-ports the ‘Billion Tree Campaign’, a globalinitiative that encourages tree planting. Capt.CP Krishnan Nair, Chairman of The LeelaPalaces, Hotels & Resorts was earlier report-ed saying that “Environment is no longerabout being green, reusing towels and recy-cling paper. Today, the main focus is oncorporate responsibility by practicing envi-ronment protection and sustainability.” TheLeela Palace Udaipur also aligned itself inother initiatives which were for the localcommunity, like development of a publicgarden at Gulab Bagh, cleaning of Lake Pi-chola and other such initiatives that were notdirectly linked to the hotel but were environ-ment themed CSR activities that hotels alignsitself with. These acts are in turn seen as actsof nation building and bring in a lot of good-will to the corporate entity.

Similarly, the legendary hotel chain in In-dia, Taj, Hotels, Resorts and Palaces is alsoactive in the CSR arena. Taj is synonymouswith the culture and heritage in India andthat has been their thrust as far as CSR activ-ities are concerned. Their program ‘BuildingLivelihoods’ extends a helping hand to thethousands of artisans and craftsmen. Thehotel in association with ‘Paramparik Kari-gar’ (association of craftsmen founded in1996) recognises the talented artisans andcraftsmen in and around the Taj hotels andthen the hotel trainees are assigned the roleof identifying the projects that can be takenup by the hotel. It is an innovative way ofdeveloping a bond between the hotel andthe people who are living around it and try-ing to impact their lives in a positive way.

Looking at the positive and encouragingideas that the hospitality leaders have for CSR,the future seems bright and promising. ■

by APRAJITA SHISHOO


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56


The Pacific Asia Travel Association(PATA) held its three-day Adven-ture Travel and Responsible Tourism

Conference and Mart (AT&RTCM) in Bhutan,the first ever international travel trade eventto be held in the country.

Under the theme “High Value Tourism,Low Impact Footprints,” AT&RTCM ad-dressed key issues facing responsible andsustainable travel. The AT&RTCM attracted232 delegates, 51 sellers from 35 companieswho arrived from eight destinations includ-ing Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Nepal,Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand.From among 48 international buyers from 18destinations, 88% were first time buyers.

Martin J Craigs, CEO, PATA said: “PATAis proud to be part of this historic event inBhutan, Land of the Thunder Dragon. Bhu-tan’s ethos of high value tourism with a lowimpact footprint is one that many destinationswould like to follow. All of us can learn fromthe Bhutan example and the high value-lowimpact debate it attracts.” It was an appropri-ate theme for the destination that has taken avery cautious route to develop the tourismindustry, ensuring that its fragile environmentand heritage remained undisturbed.

AT&RTCM started with a complimentarytour of the Paro Valley and a full-day tripcalled the “Pursuit of Happiness,” to Thim-phu, organised by the Tourism Council ofBhutan (TCB) and the Association of Bhu-

tanese Tour Operators (ABTO).An E-Tourism – New Media Boot Camp

was held the fourth in the series after Cambo-dia, Laos, and Myanmar. Jens Thraenhart,President of Dragon Trail, and organiser of theboot camp session in Bhutan, said it was de-signed to help local tourism businesses betterleverage the Internet, mobile, and technology.

Kesang Wangdi, Director General, Tour-ism Council of Bhutan and Hiran Cooray,PATA Chairman officially welcomed dele-gates during the opening session in Bhutanon the first day.

Anna Pollock, CEO, DestiCorp UK Ltd,while delivering the keynote address, said:“Adventure travel operators will survive andprosper over the next decade if they under-stand and harness the powerful forces forchange occurring throughout the world.Achieving higher yields and making less neg-ative impact requires a shift in the operatingmodel of tourism. The industrial model onwhich tourism is based is collapsing. As itmatures, it produces diminishing net returnsto all participants, and relies on volumegrowth to compensate for yield declines.”

During the Plenary Session panel debateRick Antonson, President and CEO, TourismVancouver, said: “Success with low impacttourism that brings high value requires sharedattitudes of ‘good guests and good hosts’. Vis-itors that offer high value and low impact arebecoming among the most treasured guests in

our industry. As tourism becomes the world'slargest industry, there will be ever more re-spect placed on those visitors who offer highvalue and low impact.”

In the same session, Thuji Dorji Nadik,Director (Specialist), Tourism Council ofBhutan said: “By targeting high value tour-ism, tourism benefits are being distributedmore equitably. In Bhutan, our challenge isto spread the benefits equitably and ensureregional balance in tourism development.”

Isabel Sebastian, Sustainability Advisor,Yangphel Adventure Travel & Zhiwa Ling Ho-tel, Bhutan said: “Many visitors to Bhutan canattest to the fact that this is a country of ‘happycoincidences’. The Bhutan experience willonly keep attracting high value/low impacttourists as long as tourists continue to meld intolife in Bhutan and only as long as the authen-ticity of this experience is protected.”

David Wilks, Director, Commercial Busi-ness, Department of Conservation – Te PapaAtawhai, New Zealand, addressed PlenarySession II on best case studies from NewZealand, “100% Pure You”. He said: “From atiny country at the bottom of the world hasemerged one of the most recognised tourismbrands globally. 100% Pure New Zealandwasn’t just clever marketing; it was also a bitof good luck. In an increasingly well wiredworld, delivering on an aspirational brandpromise can be tough.” ■

Excerpts from the PATA Report

‘High Value LowImpact Tourism’Debate at PATAEvent in Bhutan

LAST PAGE: RESPONSIBLE TOURISM


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