Indian hospitality braces for good tidings

Despite many uncertainties and adverse global developments, the Indian hospitality industry seems to have isolated itself and is foreseeing a good year ahead, says Priya Paul, head of the privately held Park Hotels group.

The optimism is created by the way the new financial year has begun for the industry and also the overall optimism about the economic situation with its likely impact on the flow of business visitors.

The Rs 75-crore (2002-03 turnover) group, with its five properties covering all the metros except Mumbai, hopes to see a 25 per cent increase in business in the current year.

The Indian situation is in sharp contrast to the bleak picture in the rest of Asia where major tourist destinations are currently reeling under the impact of Sars and recording an occupancy rate of a bare 10 per cent.

The good times are the most visible in Bangalore where The Park has achieved an occupancy rate of 78 per cent in April-May and 85 per cent in May so far.

The group as a whole achieved an occupancy rate of 62 per cent in 2002-03, partially accounted for by the fact that one of the properties, at Chennai, was available for a part of the year.

The group, with medium size hotels mostly in the 100-200 rooms range, is seeking to brand itself distinctively by joining the 10-year-old design hotels franchise, which wishes to cater to the "sensitivity and intimacy of lifestyle guests," according to Robert Deiner, vice president and COO.

Design hotels, which sees itself competing with the Leading Hotels and Small Luxury Hotels franchises, represents a 180-degree turn from the initial post-war move for standardisation when franchise chains promised the same size ice cubes and room layout anywhere in the world.

Deiner quoted a study by PricewaterhousCoopers, which found that properties joining the design hotels franchise and receiving their sales and marketing support eventually earned an eight per cent premium in room rates.

Design hotels highlights the 'software' design aspects of look, feel, smell and even choice of music, as opposed to the earlier emphasis on 'hardware' design aspects which evolved standard criteria for star rating.

Hence design hotels has no standard check list to which the current 104 franchisees must conform to except that they should have strong identities and offer a variety of experiences around the world.