| It doesn't play hard to get, but it isn't easy to enter its hallowed precincts either. The Leading Hotels of the World, the international hotel marketing company has just announced a list of 26 new members (none from India though) which have been allowed entry into the premier club. |
| Mark Greedy, the company's vice-president (Asia Pacific) was in New Delhi to present the list as well as to assess hotel properties in India which want to be represented by the marketing organisation. |
| Other than adding new properties to its line of 420 of the world's finest hotels and resorts it represents, the 80-year-old company also unveiled a list of luxury spas that it now represents worldwide. |
| Currently, The Leading Hotels of the World has 10 members in India including seven Taj properties, Uppal's Orchid in New Delhi, Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur and the Rambagh Palace in Jaipur. The company is looking at representing a few more brands in the country soon. |
| Greedy says India is a fertile market for luxury hotel brands: "This is the consequence of the growth in aviation, inventory of hotels, increase in the concept of luxury travel and putting financial systems in place," he says. |
| Owned by 82 hoteliers, The Leading Hotels of the World does not solicit members. Instead, hotels seek to join the organisation that assists hotels and resorts in branding, networking and distribution across the globe. "We work as an introductory platform for hotels that people halfway across the world would not have heard of," says Greedy. |
| Hotels usually find the company's inspection process, the Leading Quality Assurance, useful in assessing themselves vis a vis other hotel brands. Around 60-70 per cent of the 'surprise' inspection is a test for service quality. |
| "When guests check in, are they guided up to their rooms or when a client orders a cup of coffee, how many varieties are offered? Customers are accustomed to these little things these days," explains Greedy. |
| If a hotel fails to qualify the membership test, it is reported to the management and the organisation offers help. Such properties could be put on a provisional membership and reassessed. However, Indian standards of services, muses Greedy, are rather high. |
| The Oberoi Group of Hotels, he says, is a gleaming example of a great luxury brand that Leading Hotels helped nurture though now it is sustaining itself globally without any assistance. |
| "The Incredible India campaign, in fact, came about after considerable pressure from the Oberoi and the Taj group. They were able to strategically influence the marketing of India," he claims. |
| Greedy maintains that India is better educated in a top-end luxury environment, meaning that there's a bigger market for bigger brands. China, on the other hand, may be ahead of India in tourist numbers, but it has a bigger market for two and three star hotels. |
| Last year, the revenue of The Leading Hotels of the World grew by 5 per cent over 2006. And while profit is not priority, a few properties in hotspots like Hong Kong and ski resorts in Japan and Korea are on the cards. |
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