Radisson group looks to unveil first branded residence project by December

Radisson plans to launch its first branded residence in India by December and double its hotel portfolio to 500 by 2030, says global development chief Elie Younes

Brussels-headquartered hospitality major Radisson Hotel group will launch its first branded residence in India by the end of the year, Elie Younes, executive vice-president and global chief development officer, told Gulveen Aulakh in a virtual interaction. With India set to become one of its top-five markets, Younes says the group is planning to double hotel count in the country to 500 by 2030. Edited excerpts: 

 

Branded residences are coming up sharply in India. What is your strategy for this market?

 

Yes, we’ll be launching the first branded residence project — Radisson Blu Residences — before the end of this year in India. It’s a large project and probably in December we’ll be announcing it. I think India is ready for that. Given the awareness of the Radisson brand in India that goes back around 30 years, it is a natural fit to have branded residences simply because our brand is extremely well recognised in the country. It will help the customer, us and the owners to explore that revenue.

 

What is the strategy that Radisson follows in branded residences in other markets? Will it be the same in India? 

 

Historically, we had a mixed-use development approach. We only did branded residences if it were part or within the vicinity of a hotel project, or hotel over a branded residence. There has been demand from both investors and buyers to have more branded residences on a standalone basis, not necessarily always associated with a hotel.

 

We have selectively been venturing into those projects outside India so far, specifically West Asia. Our first branded residence project in India will be a standalone residential project and not a mixed-use one. 

 

Would India require a different strategic approach versus China, given its a growth market for all major global brands? 

 

Yes, every market requires its own specificities. We have a legacy (of 30 years) in India, a benefit that we don’t have in other markets like Southeast Asia or China. So, we do have an extra advantage here in terms of brand recognition. But this means we have to work harder to make ourselves more known in places like China and the rest of Asia. India is going through an economic boom, making it a fertile market for hotel development. We’re excited with our plan of expanding in the next four years, from our current 250 to 500 by 2030.

 

What kind of an impact has the West Asia conflict had on the Radisson group, in terms of costs rising and impacting margins?

 

There are two impacts. One, the cost of running hotels has been going up and the cost of building hotels is also rising. The whole economics of investing in a hotel has been impacted. The other one is the return on investment to the owner and that is also impacted by revenues. We’ve been blessed with revenues going up. So, to some extent, part of that cost increase has been absorbed in many markets. In some places, hotel managers were able to translate that cost increase into a price rise, basically passing on the rise to the consumer who was willing to pay the extra price.

 

In some markets, the cost did increase more than the revenues, but in those markets, there has been no noticeable impact at this point in time. It's still under control but there are signs of cost increases and we have to keep a close eye on that so we don’t run into challenges in the future.