The Indian government has often voiced its concern for the industry, but other than that it hardly does much, Rattan Keswani, Deputy MD, Lemon Tree Hotels, elaborates, while speaking about the group.
How was 2018 for Lemon Tree Hotels?
We did well both in terms of occupancy, which was close to 80 per cent, and in terms of average rates. November was a bit iffy, but that was because of a lot of holidays. Lemon Tree Hotels will be operating 87 hotels with 8793 rooms across 58 cities by FY2021. We opened a few properties as well, including the ones in Dehradun (Uttarakhand), Pune (Maharashtra), Siliguri (West Bengal), and Morjim (Goa). We should soon be able to open an ‘owned hotel’ in Mumbai, followed by Kolkata. Then, we should be able to open a managed property in Kalina, Mumbai.
The market situation in Kolkata remained at the typical 60-65 per cent tipping point. We were also involved in the resort/leisure world with a smaller set of institutions like hotels in Goa, Katra, Jaipur, Sikkim, and Corbett. That’s started to strengthen. Udaipur will be another upscale resort substantiating our direction towards attracting high-value leisure customers. Talking about international properties, we have signed management contracts in Dubai, Bhutan, and Kathmandu.
What are your parameters when you think of opening a hotel internationally?
You have to visualise your strengths and where they can benefit both the owner and the geography. GCC, particularly Dubai and Abu Dhabi, have the largest tourist arrivals from India. They are dominated by upscale luxury. There is no true midscale player there.
This story is from the February 2019 - March 2019 edition of Hospitality Talk.
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This story is from the February 2019 - March 2019 edition of Hospitality Talk.
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