‘Indian hospitality set to rise’

India seems to be in a sweet spot at the moment for Radisson Hotel Group, as the group plans to double its Indian footprint with addition of 148 hotels and resorts by 2025.

Hazel Jain

Radisson Hotel Group, planing to double its portfolio in India, unveils plans to add 148 hotels and resorts in the country by 2025. These will be in addition to more than 140 properties the hotel group has in operation, or under development nationwide. At present, Radisson Hotel Group operates 106 hotels and resorts in India, covering seven of its brands.

Showing faith in the India market, Katerina Giannouka, President (Asia Pacific), Radisson Hotel Group, said, “I am so impressed by the way the India market has rebounded successfully, much faster than the last wave. After the first wave, we took about seven months to recover RevPAR. In the second wave, we took only four months and we have seen with Omicron that our hotels have rebounded in less than a month and a half. So, we see a very strong recovery trend, illustrating the resilience of the market predominantly driven by leisure travellers in India. And now I am happy to see that MICE segment is coming back along with corporate demand.”

She added that the team has a pipeline of about 40 more properties, which roughly puts the group into 150 hotels in operation and pipeline. “Our target is to double that to 300 hotels within the next five years. We do have a focus on tiered cities in India. We already have a large network of hotels across the country. If you take a car, you can reach one Radisson hotel every five hours. So, we have a very good distribution of properties across India,”
Giannouka added.

Sunrise industry of India

Echoing similar sentiments, Zubin Saxena, Managing Director and Vice President, Operations, South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group, said, “We see Indian hospitality as the sunrise industry. We are seeing a good recovery in which the larger economic factors are lining up, whether it is the large-scale infrastructure growth in terms of highways, ports and airports, or the young population of India, where 65 per cent are under 35 years. The larger traveller trends of India that we are seeing are all conducive to a big boom, so we are expecting both for the Radisson Hotel Group in India as well as the hotel industry in India at large to narrate a huge growth story in the coming years. We have also observed that over the course of the pandemic, various additional segments have opened up and the domestic traveller has really started experimenting with branded hospitality and experiencing hospitality products. We foresee that with international skies and the market opening up, the slab of base demand will expand thereby increasing the total demand.” Saxena added that the group saw occupancy levels at 70 per cent in Quarter 1 of 2022.

Individual Retreats

The group recently unveiled its Individuals Retreats brand extension specifically designed and launched only in the India market.

It is an extension of Radisson Individuals launched last year. It will be a collection of upper-upscale and luxury lifestyle retreats across India that will offer experiences to guests – wellness, adventure and culture. They will be located in offbeat destinations such as Goa, Kashmir, Coorg and Kabini.