Abu Dhabi hotel chain set to debut in India

The company's first hotel would become operational in 2016 in NCR

Abu Dhabi-based hospitality group Rotana, which derives its name from a rare date variety, is expected to soon announce its India entry. The company plans to operate 20 properties in India in the next 10 years. Over the next three years, the company would spend significantly in India on marketing, sales and brand building activities.

“We are entering at a time when the market has slowed down but the long term story of India outweighs the short term challenges,” said Aman Aditya Sachdev, senior vice president.

The company set up its India office in June last year, in a departure from its global strategy of setting up offices only when the properties are signed up. Rotana will debut in India with its flagship brand Rotana in the upscale category and hotel apartment chain Arjaan. The company will also introduce its brand Centro in the mid-market category in India.

While the tariff for Rotana Hotels and Resorts is around of $300 a room night, for Arjaan it is $150 and Centro, $120. The company is hopeful that by the time its first hotel becomes operational in 2016 in the national capital region, the market would have revived and the revenue per available room (RevPAR) would have improved drastically. “In Dubai, the RevPAR had dropped by almost 30 per cent but things have started picking up and by the end of this year, we should be back to normal,” Sachdev said.

The recent addition to the air capacity for Abu Dhabi has also made the case for the company’s India entry stronger. “It is only now that we are ready to come here. For the last five years, we were consolidating our business in West Asia,” Sachdev added.

Globally, the company operates 46 hotels in 10 countries and has another 44 hotels in the pipeline till 2016 across 10 more countries. “As a company, our strength is that we give individual attention to each hotel and at the same time, bring economies of scale,” he added.

Currently, much of its services including technical and legal are being sourced from its headquarters in Abu Dhabi and company will hire more people close to the launch of its hotels.