Hospitality chain AccorHotels bullish on UP, to expand footprint in state

Group already has hotels in Noida, Lucknow, is scouting for properties in PM Modi's Varanasi

French hospitality chain AccorHotels is bullish on the North Indian market, particularly Uttar Pradesh and is looking at expanding footprint in the state.
 
AccorHotels, which already operates hotel properties in Noida and Lucknow, is now eyeing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency of Varanasi to open its next hotel in the country’s most populous state.
 
“We are keen to having our next hotel in Varanasi and we are already on the lookout for suitable opportunities in this regard,” AccorHotels, chief Operating Officer (India and South Asia) Jean-Michel Cassé told Business Standard here.
 

He said the Indian hospitality sector had started to look up and the demand for quality hotel rooms was slowly picking up.

 
“Over the past 7-8 years, there had been some demand-supply mismatch in the domestic hotel industry with a bit of oversupply. Now, the sector is slowly getting its momentum back,” he noted.
 
Replying to a question, he said the Indian government’s emphasis on facilitating the operation of low-cost budget air taxi services between smaller airports in the country would further spur tourism and boost the hospitality sector.
 
Cassé was in town to launch AccorHotels’ property in Lucknow recently, which has been unveiled under its Novotel brand. Located in the posh residential and business hub of Gomti Nagar area, the business class hotel comprises 106 rooms and suites. The hotel property is owned by Mehrab Logistics & Aviation Limited (MLAAL), which had invested over Rs 100 crore in the project, company CMD Abdul Hai Khan said.

 
Over the last few years, Lucknow has witnessed entry of several marquee international hospitality players, including Marriott, Golden Tulip and now AccorHotels, owing to the rapid expansion of the services sector. Apart from known hotel chains, over a dozen standalone premium hotels and resorts have also sprouted in Lucknow and its outskirts.
 
With the Lucknow Metro Rail project already underway and similar services proposed for other major towns, such as Kanpur, Varanasi, Agra, Meerut, Allahabad and Aligarh, the hospitality sector is projected to keep growing in the state. The Yogi Adityanath government in UP is giving emphasis to boost the services sector for creating jobs and creating avenues of self-employment.

 
“India is a key market for development of Novotel brand, which has now completed 10 years in the country. Going forward, we have plans to expand our portfolio and develop new market in tier II and III towns,” Cassé said. In total, AccorHotels operates 47 hotels in India across different brand names.
 
“By end of 2017 calendar, we are targetting to open another eight hotels in India and ramp up our total room inventory to 10,000,” he said adding Guwahati and Nagpur were next in line.
 
Globally, AccorHotels has a network of 4,100 hotels, resorts and residences, apart from 3,000 private homes.