Worldhotels to take India count to 20

The $307-million European hotel chain plans to add 16 more hotel properties.

Worldhotels, the $307-million European hotel chain, now plans to expand its presence in India by adding 16 more hotel properties under its wings. Worldhotels has already entered into a strategic alliance with four hotels "" three with the Claridges and one with the Imperial Palace in Mumbai.

Worldhotels is a global group with over 500 hotels under its wings across 70 countries. It extends services including sales, marketing, distribution, training and e-commerce to better equip its affiliates for global competition.

Worldhotels operates by attracting international travellers with an alternate choice in luxury hotels as opposed to the well-established hotel brands.

"We provide the necessary international connections to local hotels to enable them to take on the Hiltons and Sheratons," says Michael J Ball, chief executive officer, Worldhotels.

Elaborating on its India plans, Ball says that after getting associated with it, the three Claridges hotels in India have witnessed increase in their reveneus leading to a 40 per cent increase in the topline of the Claridges Group for the first three months of 2008 in comparison with the same period a year ago.

According to Claridges Hotel Pvt Ltd President and CEO Peter J Leitgeb, in FY08, 15 per cent of the revenue of Claridges Hotel came from reservations of Worldhotels.

Worlhotels is also scouting for suitable independent hotel properties in popular destinations like Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Udaipur and the backwaters of Kerala, Ball says.

The company has a two-pronged business strategy. Apart from charging an annual membership fees from its partner hotel, Worldhotels also charges certain percentage commission on the business that comes to such hotels through them.

According to hotel industry sources, a slew of hotels are slated to open within the next two years across destinations like Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Goa.

According to the Ministry of Tourism, India has shown an impressive performance in the tourism sector with foreign tourist arrivals growing at about 12.4 per cent and foreign exchange earnings in dollar terms growing at about 34 per cent over the previous year.

The tourism ministry expects 10 million foreign tourist footfalls in 2010, thanks to the Commonwealth Games to be hosted by the country that year.

The company sees good opportunity in the country. "There is a huge potential in the middle segment hotels in India. Once that underbelly is tapped, the pressure will come off the five stars and the imbalance between the demand and supply shall go away," Ball explains.

In 2007, Worldhotels achieved record sales in the Asia-Pacific region generating $42 million revenue and adding 10 new properties to its kitty.