Goa is now in full ‘Bloom’

Having registered 84% company-wide occupancy in FY17-18, Tom Welbury, VP Strategy, Bloom Hotel Group, is targetting 20% growth this year.

TT Bureau

Q Tell us about the brand.

The Bloom brand was conceptualized in conjunction with several industry experts ranging from university professors to leading architects. Its mission over the past 5 years has been to revolutionise the affordable hotel space. Today, The Bloom has been widely recognized as one of Asia’s leading mid-market hotel brands and has had a very successful start with launches in Delhi, Bengaluru and Goa. Each hotel has quickly become a ranking leader on TripAdvisor and other qualitative sites.

Q What kind of growth have you seen in the last year?

As a group we push our team very hard to deliver only the best performances across the board. Coming off the back of a blended occupancy of more than 80 per cent  across the group in financial year 2016-17.  The team is expected to deliver revenue growth of more than 20 per cent across the same hotels in the year 2017-18. We are RevPar leader in our category and stay away from discount led success which is eventually destructive to a brand.

Q What is the USP of your new hotel, Bloom Suites  Calangute in Goa?

Bloom is known for picking outstanding locations in each of its respective markets, be it bang on 100 Feet Rd Indiranagar in Bengaluru or a stone’s throw from New Delhi Railway Station, which is no different in Goa, where we are at a walking distance from Calangute beach.With an inventory of 130 keys, including 75 rooms and 55 suites the hotel is able to cater to all segments. Boasting of Calangute’s largest pillar-less conference/banquet hall and serving concept food & beverages under the Captain Barracuda’s Bar & Grill brand, the hotel is quickly becoming a popular MICE destination.

Q How do you stay ahead or deal with competition in a market like Goa?

Bloom is spearheading the gentrification of Calangute with a fresh approach to mid market hotels, bringing world-class facilities at affordable rates.

Bloom is delivering a lot more than hotels to the travellers with great success through a highly innovative and contemporary design concept.

Q What kind of promotional strategies are you adopting to create visibility in your Goa property?

At Bloom we are passionate about creating world class stay experiences to ensure we are the undisputed quality leader of the mid-market segment. When you have a quality product you don’t need to focus too much on promotions but rather let your guests themselves tell the market about the hotel.

During the launch of the hotel we run introductory pricing with our preferred online & offline partners which is our way of letting the market see that we can live up to our promise of being best in class. The feedback till date has been outstanding from our channel partners, which is kudos to the hard work of our operations team.

Q How are you engaging with travel agents to boost the sales of the Goa property?

We strongly believe in building long-term relationships with our loyal distribution partners both online & offline. Over the past 6 years we have consistently delivered top of segment performance for each of our partners, which has led to deep relationships that we have extended into the Goa market. There is also a priority placed with select partners in the charter market which has been a win-win relationship in Goa. Our contemporary design & fresh service approach has been greatly appreciated by
inbound travellers.