The Fern Hotels to add 1,000 additional rooms spanning 13 hotels: Suhail

The Fern Hotels & Resorts will be adding 1,000 more rooms spanning 13 hotels this fiscal, most of which will come up in the East and Northeastern markets, as the group seeks diversification

The Fern Hotels & Resorts will be adding 1,000 more rooms spanning 13 hotels this fiscal, most of which will come up in the East and Northeastern markets, as the group seeks geographical diversification.

The city-based hotel chain, which follows an asset-light model, wherein it does mostly operations and maintenance, has already added seven hotels this year, taking their total assets to 100 properties in 85 cities mostly in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Concept Hospitality, the holding company was founded by the veteran hotel management professional Param Kannampilly in 1996.

Concept Hospitality runs five brands, which straddles from 5-star hotels under the Fern brand (27 hotels), the 4-star Fern Residency (26 properties), the Beacon brand of 23 economy hotels, the Zinc Journey by the Fern -- an upscale lifestyle brand (two operations) and the Fern Habitat (two properties offering upscale service apartments).

"We have already opened seven hotels this year, the latest in Palghar near Mumbai with 81 keys. We will be opening 13 more offering 1,000 keys. Most of these new additions will be in the Eastern and Northeastern markets," Suhail Kannampilly, the managing director of The Fern Hotels & Resorts and the son of the founder, told PTI.

On the revenue side, Suhail said the company closed FY23 with Rs 750 crore, of which Concept's revenue was 5-8 per cent of the billing. Given the capacity addition, he expects billing to grow around 60 per cent to Rs 1,200 crore this fiscal.

He said the units have already crossed the pre-pandemic level in both room rates (up over 25 per cent over February 2020 level) and also occupancy in FY23, adding the momentum is likely to continue this fiscal as well.

Of the 100 properties, he said the company has taken three on lease and going forward they may add more in the lease-model, wherein the company pays back around 23 per cent of the billing to the property owner. Overall the company has around 37 per cent margin.

Between 1996, when Param launched Concept Hospitality and 2009 they managed the Orchid Hotels in association with Kamat Hotels and their first hotel (Fern) was opened in 2009 in Jaipur.

Suhail also said the company will be hiring 1,200 to man these new hotels and another 800 to offset attrition. It employs 5,400 people now.

Suhail said the company is in talks with developers in the MENA and Subcontinent to spread its wings overseas. While it is eyeing assets in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal in the Subcontinent, in the MENA regions it is keen to get into Dubai and Northeastern Africa.