1589 Hotels Group, owned and run by the Clarks Family is all set to expand its chain of hotels in India. The group plans to add five hotels in 2016 across India and is also working on developing a unique channel management system for its hotel.
Speaking about the development, Udit Kumar, Joint Managing Director, 1589 Hotel Group said, “In 2016, we will open five hotels. We have our chic hotel brand GenX coming up in Agra and Mathura, RnB Select which is our full serviced mid-scale hotel brand coming up with a beautiful 70 key property in Jaipur. We will be launching our uber luxury brand ‘Brij’ in Varanasi as Brijrama Palace and our premium brand ‘Artè’ in Manipal as Artè Central Park.”
The Luxury hotel which is due to open in Varanasi is a 33 key palatial property which is over 218 years old and is located on the banks of river Ganga. Whereas, Artè Central Park Manipal is a premium/luxury hotel with 55 keys, four F&B Outlets and a banquet hall of over 18,000 sq ft.
In fiscal 2016, the group will be focusing its expansion primarily in Rajasthan and Andhra and Telangana. “We want to capture the inbound and domestic tourism in Rajasthan. Simultaneously, we want to increase our prominence in the south and begin active expansion in Telangana and Andhra. Through a strategic partnership, we have managed to build a great base in Hyderabad, where we are currently operating two hotels,” he said.
“We at 1589 Hotels have been working on multiple ventures for the future. Besides expansion, we are currently developing our own channel manager and a proper management system, for our hotels itself. This will enable better flow of communication from the hotels to our offices and other stakeholders and thereby make management of hotels more dynamic. Along with this we have been working on a purchase solution for all hotels with the team of efficient bazar, a start-up technology firm. This software will soon change the way purchasing is done in all hotels, removing all ambiguity and reducing costs in purchases,” he added.
Speaking about the trends in the hospitality industry, Kumar added, “2015 was a very interesting year in hospitality. Oyo, Zo rooms and the like bought about a disruptive change in the industry by tapping directly on the need of consumers looking for standardised hotel rooms. Through their failures, we also learned that it is not just about the standardisation in rooms but also in levels of basic service in the budget segment. The future in the industry seems quite exciting. With the devaluation of the Rupee it has become expensive for the domestic travellers to go abroad while it has become cheaper for foreigners to visit our country. As a result in the near future we will see a huge increase in domestic travel and we will also see a growth in the inbound travel market.”
