Four of 16 planned hotels to roll out soon in first airport-linked hospitality district

Security concerns and labour shortage slow down construction

You can feel the carpet underneath the white-and blue-chequered plastic sheet as you walk through the corridors lined up with luxury suites and rooms at JW Marriott’s latest hotel in Delhi’s Aerocity. Out of the 523 rooms of this luxury property, nearly 300 will open their bubble-wrapped doors to guests next month.

“We are just giving the finishing touches to the building and finalising the name of our restaurant. We have got 250 people on board for this property,” said Balan Paravantavida, general manager, JW Marriott-Aerocity.

Of the 16 hotels planned in India’s first hospitality district, four are nearing completion. Besides JW Marriott, Accor group’s Ibis, Lemon Tree Premier and Red Fox are expected to be up and running by July.

The going has not been easy for this ambitious project, though. The home ministry has expressed concern over security issues because of the hotels’ proximity to the runway. “DIAL (Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd) is trying to sort the matter out, especially after the hotels were asked to raze a couple of floors as they defy security norms,” said a senior executive close to the development.

Accor group, which is also opening a Novotel and a Pullman hotel, points at a peculiar problem. “Every time there is a VIP movement like the visit of some foreign delegates, all hotels are sealed and construction work stopped. For workers, it becomes a half day,” said Jean-Michel Casse, senior vice-president (operations), Accor India.

Apart from security, labour shortage has also been a major hassle for hotliers. “Aerocity has thrown up some of its own set of challenges including availability of timely labour, logistics handling due to the security protocols and setting up of labour camps,” said Ankur Bhatia, executive director of Bird Group, which expects to launch its hotel, dusitD2, in Aerocity by the year-end.

While the construction is in full swing in the Aerocity, four hotel projects - Nikko, Conrad, Hyatt Place and Intercontinental - are in limbo, most of them signed up at the 13-acre land parcel of Shahid Balwa’s DB Realty. Balwa is an accused in the 2G scam.

Aerocity aims to tap the market of transit-travellers, and that’s its biggest draw. It is also expected to project Delhi as a tourist hub for leisure and business travellers. In all, there are nine land parcels in the 43-acre DIAL hospitality district, which could create an inventory of over 5,000 rooms along with a commercial complex and a convention centre.

Radisson Blu Plaza, which is located close to the Aerocity, expects high competition from so many brands. “The inventory has not really opened at the airport but we have to be prepared. We have spent around Rs 60 crore to upgrade all the facilities,” said K B Kachru, executive vice-president of Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, which runs Radisson Blu Plaza.

As many as 26 million passengers fly in and out of Delhi annually. The new terminal is meant to accommodate 34 million passengers annually, and there are plans to expand it to cater to 100 million customers annually.