The Indian hotel industry is in an upbeat mood. A slew of major international brands are lining up with open wallets and cheque-books, reports CNBC-TV18's Swati Khandelwal Jain.
International hotel giants want to make Indian hospitality their own. And each one of them, from Carlson to Hilton, to Marriot to Starwood, are ready to jump into what is, for them, one of the most important and fastest growing markets in the world.
Hubert Joly, president and CEO, Carlson, said, "India is our top focus, given the size of the country, the economic expansion, the growth of travel and tourism. Today we have 34 hotels in operation. We are going to open 19 hotels this year and we continue to have a goal to have at least 100 hotels in operation by 2015."
Frits Van Paasschen, president and CEO, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, said, "India is our fourth largest market today around the world as a country and the second fastest growing. We had about 25 hotels a year ago and we expect to be close to 50 by the end of next year. So you would be imagining a doubling from 25 to 50 hotels over a three-year period. We believe that there is another doubling from 50 to 100 hotels in the two to three years after that."
Christopher J Nassetta, president and CEO, Hilton Worldwide, said, "From 5 hotels today we plan to have 10 at the end of this year and 15 at the end of next year and 50 plus over the next four or five years."
Simon Copper, president and MD - Asia Pacific, Mariott International, said, "I would say over the next three years we will double our representation in the market."
Not to be left behind, domestic players are also angling for a bigger piece of the pie. Indian Hotels and Oberio feel 2012 will be a better year in terms of growth and margins. With a revenue target of USD 2 billion, India Hotels, for instance, wants to increase room count to 20,000 over the next 5 years.
Raymond Bickson, MD and CEO, Taj Hotels and Resorts Palaces, said, "I think margins are picking up."
Rattan Keshvani, president, Trident, said, "This year we are all looking at about a 15-20% growth in the topline which is going to be a combination of occupancies and rates. I think the occupancies are stable now and because the occupancies are stable we can expect rates to start climbing."
Funding, which was a big problem, is also melting away. Nearly 50% of the projects are now being financed by big private equity players and investment bankers.
Manav Thadni, Chairman, HVS India, said, "This is the first time we have got around 14-15 bankers out here and they are looking to lend to the industry."
The numbers say it all. With investments of USD 10.3 billion, 82,000 new jobs being created and 60,000 rooms to be added over the next five year, clearly makes India a hot spot for both Indian and international hotel majors.
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