Kempinski partners with Nijhawan

Kempinski Hotels recently conducted its roadshow in New Delhi, where Theo Ocks, Vice President—Sales, Kempinski Hotels, spoke about India as a potential market and the group’s strategies towards the trade.

Anupriya Bishnoi

Q What was the agenda for the roadshow? How beneficial was it for the group?

This is the first time we have come to India. We have a presence of 12 hotels in the roadshow and 14 representations. The agenda is to meet with the key leadership of travel agencies and tour operators, and to talk about Kempinski and understand the needs of Indian travellers, as well as determine what exactly their expectations are from us in terms of services in our hotels, popular locations, and how we can best serve them.

Q When exactly will India see a Kempinski?

We would love to get a new Kempinski in India. We used to have a partnership with Leela which, unfortunately, we don’t have anymore. That said, we are fully committed to the Indian market and I feel it would be fantastic to have properties here. Our development team is pursuing leads in the Indian market, especially in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, but we would also like to look into secondary and tertiary cities.

Q Which are the top markets for Kempinski and how important is India as a market for you?

Globally, our top markets are the US, UK, and Germany, which is our home market. China is coming up very fast for us. We have a large number of hotels in China, about 25 hotels, not only in primary and secondary cities but also in tertiary ones. In China, we have a good presence. India, at the moment, is still a very modest market for us. We see several hotels being a great success in hosting Indian weddings, like Çırağan Palace in Istanbul and Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. We would like to see more of that. We have an amazing hotel in Venice, which is a great venue for weddings and where you can rent out the entire island. It is also good for honeymooners who are looking for spending some time in Venice.

Q How supportive are travel agents in the Indian market and what are your strategies towards the trade?

We have good support from India, but you really have to be in the market for visibility. This is why we have partnered with the Nijhawan Group. We looked into the market for partnership and to us, Nijhawan Group came out to be one of the top representation groups. During our roadshow in Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai, we will constantly be talking to agents to make sure their needs are met and that they get answers and quotations quickly to close business deals.

Q What was the agenda for the roadshow? How beneficial was it for the group?

The Indian market is unique. One of the reasons we are here is so that we can get in-depth knowledge of the market. Our general managers should observe and learn about unique requirements of Indians- what is it that they need when they are in a hotel. For instance, we need to make sure that we have proper Indian food. In several of our hotels, we also have Indian chefs.

Q Globally, where would you place the Indian hospitality market?

I think India is just nudging towards our top 10 markets, but we think there is more volume to grow; there is a lot of potential for us to grow in this market.