Shopping In India

While pursuing an ambitious career path in the 1990s, Nelson took time off to enroll for an accelerated Master of Business Administration degree from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.

With the degree in hand, Nelson picked up experience in the hotel industry, serving in management positions with two of the leading organisations of the industry, Hyatt Hotels and Four Seasons.

And today Nelson heads Carlson Hospitality Worldwide's group operations, which boasts some 1,100 hotels, resorts, restaurants and cruise ship operations, for which the combined revenue the last fiscal touched $12.6 billion.

Nelson was in India to explore hotel tie-ups for the Radisson brand and the four-star Regent brand aimed at the mid-market segment.

India has plenty of potential, but the government should encourage the hotel and tourism industry in a more organised way, says Nelson. The group has plans to pump in upto $500 billion into its future businesses here in the next five years to bring in the latest technology and customer relations services.

The only apprehension that Nelson has about investing in India is the magnitude of costs involved. The land prices here are exhorbitant and the costs of purchasing land and developing it could be mindboggling, he says. He would rather have the government ensure that land is available on a lease basis or sign joint ventures to develop land, especially in the metros.

In the Asia-Pacific region, China and Thailand have also been earmarked by the Carlson group. But India is top on the priority list. This is an emerging market, with booming opportunities, Nelson says.