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| Indian Hotels plans expansion under Gateway brand |
| Swaraj Baggonkar / Mumbai Apr 17, 2009, 00:27 IST |
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Gateway Hotels, the mid-range brand of the Tata group’s Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), plans to open 12 new properties in the next two to three years.
These dozen-odd hotels will be run as management contracts and not as owned properties, according to Jyoti Narang, chief operating officer of Gateway.
The Gateway brand was created seven months ago and this expansion is part of IHCL’s effort to create space for it. Other brands owned by IHCL are Taj, Vivanta by Taj and Ginger.
IHCL, Asia’s largest hotel company, plans to have 50 Gateway hotels in India in the next few years, from about 30 at present. Of the latter, 16 used to be run under the Taj brand and were transferred to Gateway, while 10 were added later.
The company plans to invest aggressively to promote the brand through owned and managed properties, to be set up in each of the country’s business districts and leisure locations, catering primarily to the contemporary traveller.
Experts say despite the current economic slowdown that has impacted top hotel companies, both globally and here, the time is right for companies looking to introduce new brands in India.
“This is essential, as the presence of a variety of brands in India is limited, whereas consumer choices and patterns show a need for more brands. For instance, the margins of luxury hotels have taken a beating in recent times, but budget hotels and above are doing brisk business,” said an executive of a top hotel company.
Taking advantage of such gaps, global hotel chain majors like the Wyndham group, MGM Mirage Hospitality, Langham Hotels, Movenpick, Accor Hospitality and Jumeriah are launching a variety of brands that will operate at different levels.
The hotel industry is anticipating a drastic fall in foreign tourist arrivals this year due to many factors, including the financial meltdown and the recent terrorist attacks on Indian cities.
Many hoteliers have, therefore, decided to go slow on their current projects involving premium five-star and luxury properties.
However, IHCL will add 16 new hotels in the current financial year involving a total addition of 2,080 rooms. Currently the company has 86 hotels with 10,300 rooms.
The new hotels are coming up in Bangalore, Varanasi, Chennai, Vijayawada, Trivandrum and Panjim.
Meanwhile, Roots Corporation, a fully owned subsidiary of IHCL, is planning to open 21 new Ginger hotels at major locations across the country by the end of the current financial year.
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