Speaking with T3 about the year 2013, Sanjay Sharma, Complex General Manager, The Westin Gurgaon, New Delhi, The Westin Sohna Resort & Spa commented that it has been a slightly better year for in comparison with 2012. “2012 was not a peak year for us as we were only three years old and ramping up. In 2013, we have seen about 6 per cent growth in terms of our business and topline over 2012. However, the ARR saw slight drop due to devaluation of Rupee and this has impacted the hotel industry in general. While our ARR is at par with 2012 in Rupee term, we are at least about 15-20 per cent down due to exchange rate in dollar terms,” he said and added that ARR witnessed a dip of 17-18 per cent in dollar term for the hotel industry.
Currently, Westin Gurgaon enjoys an ARR of Rs. 10,000 and Westin Sohna Resort & Spa enjoys an ARR of Rs. 11,400. “We have seen an average occupancy of 68 per cent for the Westin Gurgaon and 52 per cent for the Sohna Resort,” Sharma revealed. Talking about the source market, he said that the industry has seen a drop in foreign leisure travel. “In Gurgaon, we are seeing a growth coming in primary from business travel from foreign and domestic markets. The Westin Gurgaon receives 50 per cent business each from domestic and overseas markets in terms of business travel. For Sohna resort, we have 90 per cent domestic and 10 per cent international business primarily related to MICE,” he said. F&B contributes around 40 percent of the total revenue of the property.
Sharma also spoke about the current trends in MICE in India. “The MICE business we are getting is less than 10 per cent of our potential. This is because of lack of world-class convention centres. India is among top 10 economies of the world but we have only three quality convention centres. Hence, most of the international events do not take place in India. We are developing hotel infrastructure but not focused on developing convention centres,” he stated.
He is of the opinion that competition is healthy as it keeps players on toes. “Competition needs to be strong to run and enjoy successful business. Competition brings in standard, quality, price advantage and value for money. We have pro active approach ahead of our competitors. We have a philosophy that we will continue to focus on our standard and service and our business,” he said.
Talking about sales and marketing strategy, he said that our network is strongest in the world. “Earlier, each hotel was selling its own hotel. Today, it has changed and every hotel is selling all hotels under the chain. We have around 50,000 sales associates who are actually selling all our hotels. At local level, we are going after the business and creates relationship to get more business from the market,” he opined.
