SLH seeks to reestablish its presence in the Indian market post-pandemic, aiming to showcase India’s vibrant story and boost increased inbound traffic.
Talking about the current situation of business, Mark Wong, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific, Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) mentioned to T3 that the current portfolio stands at 570 hotels with an organic growth. Last year, SLH added about 61 hotels to the group, this year SLH is at 45 already.
“We’re looking at about 60 hotels again and close this year with about 600 hotels, which is ahead of schedule” added Wong, “There’s a lot of growth in the Asian market and a lot of interest back in Europe as well. In Europe, we have over 300 hotels in Europe with our major concentration, about 130 within Asia Pacific, and then the other remaining 100 in America. Now we are trying to bring the story of India, and help people to come back into India, achieving inbound traffic as well.”
Emphasizing on the India market, Wong expressed India is where SLH wants to reintroduce itself after pandemic. The group used to have a larger footprint, but in pandemic, it was left with Raj Palace. The goal is to sign new hotels online, let people have a chance to see more of India with products that have individual quality and character. The first partnership is with the MRS Group and are looking for new owners that have that passion like SLH.
“The second group we signed is Brij, that imply the new generation of hotels that are very experiential. Our work is to find all these little gems in India and start introducing it to the world. We have been missing out on the domestic size of the market that we want to reach out to” mentioned Wong.
When asked about standout feature, Wong added that the average room size for SLH is about 50 rooms, with the largest hotel of about 200 rooms and the smallest as 1room, 2 bedrooms in Fiji, with ability to cater to a multitude of different segments. He further added, “Product-wise, we aim at quality, and one of key areas is sustainability.” SLH has a whole series called ‘Independent Minds’ that celebrates owners and tell how these products came to life. “There’s always a story behind the hotel, not just an investor or hotel owner building a physical product”, added Wong.
Revealing further plans, Wong expressed, “We used to have a larger footprint in India, but we’re starting off with 5 hotels. We are hoping to close this year with another 5 in discussion and implementation. Hopefully we close about 10 this year, which is a good start because we haven’t been in the market for a while. Mostly in Rajasthan, followed by South as you see more products coming from the south next year.” SLH wants to have more familiarity and presence in India so that people know the brand internally first.
Talking about recent partnership with Hilton, Wong said “India might not be their strongest market, but we are working hand in hand in developing India. We do share a lot of leads among ourselves, & Hilton is not a new brand for India. For us, it is basically a B2C rather than a B2B play. Their members are now able to book, earn and burn their points at our hotels through their channels. We fill in the gap very well where they don’t have a hotel, especially in the luxury space.”
SLH has also returned to print with the launch of a physical directory—a coffee table book showcasing their hotels and the stories behind them.
