Realising the fact that brand value will be the major differentiator in the hospitality marketplace in the coming years, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts is gearing up for a major image makeover as the company enters its 20th year of formation. The two decade old Sarovar Hotels, a leading hotel player in India today with an international presence (Sarovar has hotels in Kenya and Tanzania), will soon embark on a major brand building exercise that Anil Madhok, Managing Director of Sarovar Hotels & Resorts said that the company has not taken before.
Speaking on the side lines of the first Global Hospitality Conclave that took place recently, Madhok said, “We have reached a level where we need to invest in brand building in a big way. We have not really undertaken a concerted brand building exercise so far unlike Carlson or other such hotel companies with a global presence and well established brands. In the coming financial year we would focus on brand building in a major way,” he revealed.
Madhok further informed that the company is close to finalising its blueprint and is meeting agencies in order to formulate a holistic brand campaign that it has not undertaken so far. “We are meeting a few agencies over the next few days who will make their presentation and offer their inputs. This is not going to be a six or twelve months programme. We are looking at a powerful brand building exercise that we can undertake over the next three to five years,” he added.
Emerging as the largest home grown hotel management company and being counted amongst the top three hotel companies in the India, Madhok, while talking about portfolio development, feels that signing new hotel properties for Sarovar is not really a challenge today. However, the company must be geared to deliver on its promise.
However, he also added, “Last year we added three to four properties. In between we opened more than 15 properties in two consecutive years and that really put huge pressure. Today, if we go from 60 to 85 properties we can handle it but if we go higher than that, obviously we need to build infrastructure.”
India and Africa will remain Sarovar’s key focus markets and the hotel company is not looking at growth in other markets. Also, the company will be solely focussed on the asset light strategy to drive its future growth.
Sarovar currently has about 60 operating properties across India, including Chandigarh, Indore and Roorkee that it owns. It will add another of its own property at Chennai, where the work is expected to begin soon.
