Continuing with its expansion plan, Carlson Rezidor Hotel is slated to open 13 hotels in India in 2013. “We have opened 35 new hotels and added 48 hotels to our pipeline over the last two years. We have had a strong start in 2013 and will carry that momentum into the rest of the year,” said Simon C. Barlow, President- Asia Pacific, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. Currently, the Group has 92 properties in the Asia Pacific, including 57 in India. In the Delhi market alone, the Group operates 19 hotels. Apart from two new hotels in Mumbai and Davao, the Group will add another 13 properties before the end of the year, bringing their operating portfolio to 107 in the Asia Pacific.
“India is a priority market for us. We have more hotels here than in China. Last year, we signed a strategic partnership with a Gurgaon-based real estate firm Bestech Group to open 49 Park Inn hotels by 2024. We are investing capital to build the first two hotels and will develop the rest over 15 years in northern and central India,” informed Barlow. The deal involved Carlson investing Rs 230 crores for the first two hotels in Gurgaon and Mohali. He said that the Group is looking to put in seed fund to create an investment vehicle that will build multiple hotels for the Southern, Western and Eastern regions, and strike strategic alliances with partners, just as it did for the North and Central regions.
Commenting on how different working in India is, Barlow stated, “With emerging markets, we need to have competent managers from within the market itself. In high growth markets, one needs to protect the integrity of brand, whereas emerging markets don’t always understand brand standards. We always look for the right partners to keep the brand integrity intact.”
Barlow further revealed that the Group is planning to introduce its high-end lifestyle brand ‘Missoni’ in India to expand its footprint in the country. “We would like to introduce our luxury brand ‘Missoni’ in India but we are not time bound. We do have plans to introduce the brand in another three to five years and this brand would be introduced in one or two cities in India, possibly Delhi and Mumbai,” he said. According to him, luxury hotel development in India is facing the weight of high land and construction costs. “Even though we are looking at achieving multiple hotel growth, we will be cautious with the Missoni brand. Missoni has to be developed in the right location and built to the exact brand standard. We are therefore in no rush to develop the Missoni brand in India,” he concluded.
Carlson operates hotels under brands such as Radisson, Park Plaza, Country Inns & Suites and Park Inn through management and franchise routes.
