JW Marriott has managed to be the first hotel to open in Delhi’s aerocity after a delay of nine months and budget moving up by Rs 200 crore. The luxury hotel is betting big on its location near the airport and Gurgaon to drive up the overall occupancies. Simon F Cooper, president and managing director- Asia Pacific, Marriott International, tells Ruchika Chitravanshi he finally had a sound sleep with the knowledge that it was safe at last to throw open the group's hotel at Aerocity to guests now. Edited excerpts:
You have finally opened your hotel in Aerocity crossing all the security hurdles. At one point there was even a suggestion to raze off two floors. Did you find the whole controversy bizzare?
It was a little bizzare since the whole zone was approved. Authorities collectively figured out what was required, but the hotel was still delayed. As a company we are paranoid about security and we want to secure our guests in every way. But this was a disappointment. The developers made this hotel in record time of 3 months which is really fast by Indian standards. But for six extra months, we had to incur extra costs in paying interests, salaries to 600 associates, maintenance of the property.
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Even the Ritz Carlton property in Bangalore has opened after much delay. Isn't it?
That was a typical Indian delay. India is a more complex environment to operate and build hotels in. A lot of additional infrastructure has to be built here. We have to create our own water treatment plant, duplicate the utilities. This cost is twice in India compared to anywhere else in the world.
How many more of your hotels are located around airports? Have you faced similar hurdles elsewhere?
We have over 100 hotels across the world near airports including the US, Hong Kong, London. Airport location is not accidental. It is great to be in Aerocity between Delhi and Gurgaon. But we have never, not been able to open due to security issues. These requirements were not unreasonable but they were unanticipated.
The business environment in the hotel sector has been suffering. How long will it take for the hospitality industry to come out of the slowdown?
The supply in the Indian market has been coming on the grounds that every year the GDP would continue to grow by 8%. This has not happened. We will take longer to absorb the supply. May be instead of two years it will now take four.
Many developers have burnt their fingers in the hospitality business, with several looking for an exit. Has it deterred your partnerships?
We have had great partners in Samhi, Rahejas and Asian Hotels West. They have the knowledge of the hotel industry and know that gestation period is longer. We have trouble with those who do not have experience .
In the last fourteen years that you have been present in India, what has been your biggest lesson about the Indian market?
People have not really recognized how important the hospitality industry is. We have around 6,500 associates in India of which only one is an expat. There is huge legacy of hotels like Taj, Oberoi and ITC here. The infrastructure is a challenge here. But my biggest disappointment is that the visa regime here is the most archaic in the world. It is very counter intuitive. World is moving to e-visa, it works so much better from security point of view. There are such nice campaigns of Incredible India, but when you actually decide to come, things get difficult.