Carlson To Invest $500m In India

US-based hotel major Carlson Hospitality Worldwide plans to invest approximately half-a-billion dollars in India over the next five years. This will be done as part of its expansion plans and to build up various brands like Regent Hotels and Resorts, Radisson Hotels and Thank God Its Friday (TGIF) restaurants.

The group is also negotiating with a couple of Indian companies with whom the Regent brand of hotels and resorts can be brought to India. Both the Radisson and TGIF brands are already in India, though the former is yet to formally start its Delhi operations.

Though Carlson Hospitality worldwide is getting aggressive on South Asia and the neighbouring regions like China and Indonesia, India is the $4.6 billion company's main target, according to company executives.

Our talks with some Indian companies are at an advanced stage for the Regent chain of super deluxe hotels and resorts, the first of which should get operational in the next 12-18 months, Carlson Hospitality Worldwide's president and chief executive, Curtis Nelson, told Business Standard here yesterday.

Though Nelson refused to divulge the names of the likely local partners, he admitted that his company was negotiating with hotel chains and individuals. The first Regent Hotel will come up in Delhi, while the other cities being targetted include Mumbai and Bangalore.

Talks regarding the Regent brand are for franchise arrangement and management control also. Carlson Hospitality has committed approximately three quarters of a billion dollars worldwide on human resource development and customer management technology.

We have not yet pinpointed how much funds we will invest in India but we can over the next five years go up to half-a-billion dollars as the in-house technology developed can be applied in India too, Nelson explained.

The group has also drawn up a plan to target the Indian middleclass. It plans to do so through mid-priced accommodations in country inns and suites in big cities and smaller towns.

By the end of the year, construction will start on at least four of the country inns.

The cities shortlisted for such properties include Calcutta, Delhi, Katra near Jammu and Puri.

The last two because of the large number of middle class tourists they attract for pilgrimages.

Carlson Hospitality, part of the $ 12.6 billion Carlson Companies Inc, is a hospitality service major, encompassing 1,100 hotel, resorts, restaurant and cruise ship operations.

Specific brands include Regent International Hotels and Resorts, Radisson Hotels Worldwide, Country Inns and Suites by Carlson, Radisson Seven Seas Cruises and TGIF restaurants.