 "Wyndham Hotels")
India remains a priority market for Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, the world’s largest hotel franchising company by number of hotels, as it plans to bring brands like Vienna House and Microtel as well as branded residencies into the country, said the company’s top executives.
Currently, it has nine operational hotel brands in India, with Ramada being its leading brand in terms of demand. Wyndham Hotels and Resorts has a total of 67 operational hotels in the country, and it plans to add about 20 hotels in 2025, the top executives added.
For Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, India has been a top priority market for the last eight-to-nine years, and it will continue to be a priority market for expansion in the coming years as well, said Rahool Macarius, market managing director, Eurasia.
“We signed a deal with a third-party management company called NILE Hospitality to bring our Microtel brand into India, with its first signing announcement coming very soon,” said Dimitris Manikis, president, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Eurasia and Africa), Wyndham Hotels and Resorts.
“I am also very keen to bring to India Vienna House, which we introduced about two years ago in Europe. We are also very keen on bringing branded residencies (to India) as it has been the fastest-growing segment in the hospitality industry. I hope to have at least one branded residence signed this year,” Manikis said.
The Vienna House brand is in the upscale segment while Microtel is in the economy segment.
Earlier this year, the company had said in a statement that it plans to open a total of 40 Microtel hotels by 2031 in India, located in Tier-II, -III, and -IV cities. Manikis further added that they have seen a lot of uptake for their branded residencies in Europe, and he believed that the growth of the middle class in India would make branded residencies a very interesting investment for Wyndham Hotels and Resorts. Recently, the overall signings (globally) for the hotel company have been for branded residencies, which is almost 30 per cent.
On expanding presence in the country, Macarius said that they are keen to work with local governments that show more flexibility, like single-window clearances for its hotels. For branded residencies, Manikis added that key metropolitan cities would be the focus areas.
Last year, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts had signed 20 hotels in India and opened 11, with the hotel’s revenue per available room (RevPAR) rising by 5 per cent on a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis and its occupancy rate being at 68 per cent, Macarius added.
He further said that currently, the northern region of India generates more demand for their hotels, with almost 60 per cent of the hotel company’s portfolio based in Tier-II, and -III cities. Ahmedabad, Indore, Udaipur, Jaipur, and Goa are some of the leading cities in terms of demand in Tier-II cities.
Additionally, banking on its loyalty program — Wyndham Rewards Loyalty Program — the hotel company plans to attract foreign tourists to India, said Manikis. It has about 800,000 members in India under this program.
