Building up Fortune

IN CONVERSATION

With India maturing as a business-cum-leisure destination, the demand for quality rooms is growing rapidly. Ravi Teja Sharma spoke to Suresh Kumar, president of the ITC-promoted Fortune Park Hotels, about its fast-forward pace of expansion. The company has already touched 31 hotels, up from 16 just six months ago.

What is the definition of mid-market segment? Which segment do Fortune Hotels belong?

As of today, the mid-market brand is not clearly defined. Many equate mid-market with budget while others put it in the four-star category. We don't brand our hotels as mid-market or budget. We are very clear "" ours are trendy and functional hotels that offer the guests five-star comforts within a smaller footprint.

What is the focus of Fortune Hotels "" leisure or business travellers? Is it possible to marry the two categories together, and how successfully?

All our properties have some element of business in them "" wi-fi, meeting rooms and business centres. Thelarger focus though depends on which city the property is in. Facilities are incorporated depending on the demands of a particular city. Many leisure destinations today are also business destinations.

Goa, for example, might be a leisure destination, but there is also a huge demand from corporates for conference facilities. In Tirupati, the demand might be for smaller meeting rooms but more banqueting space (many people get married there). Gurgaon, on the other hand, is an outright business destination.

How do you choose your properties? Does Fortune Hotels own properties or is it just a management company? How is the branding done?

We do not own any property, except the Fortune Resort Bay Island at Port Blair, which is owned by ITC. We are a management company and "Land to launch" is what our role is.

The most important factor when we are scouting for properties "" greenfield, brownfield (civil structure) and an existing property looking for branding "" is location. As this industry evolves, there will be a cluster of brands in a particular location and the first mover will surely have an advantage.

We have five different brands under the Fortune Hotels umbrella "" Fortune Select, Fortune Park, Fortune Resorts, Fortune Inn and Fortune Residences. Branding is done depending on the size of the plots available.

The footprint decides the product. Fortune Inns, for example, have 30-50 rooms built on 1,200 plus sq yards of space. Fortune Select properties are 100+ rooms on at least one acre of land. Also, at certain locations, product is decided after evaluating the need.

Besides, a 140-room greenfield property "" Fortune Select Excalibur "" is coming up on the Sohna-Gurgaon Road. A Select property in Jaipur has just opened. Fortune Jukaso Inn was signed up in December at Pune and is expected to become operational by March 2007.

Some of your properties, it seems, compete against your own Welcomgroup properties. How is the pricing done?

A Fortune Hotel and a WelcomHotel might be in the same city but they won't be competing. This is a different segment altogether. The profile of people staying at the two places is completely different.

Also, as traffic congestion increases (and time is always at a premium), the pace of life will start dictating properties. Location of hotels will start to play a big role. Many business travellers, for example, would want a hotel close to their workplace so they could walk down.

We look for the best possible location while scouting for newer properties. Location of newer properties is dictated by new businesses coming up at different locations. Pricing of properties depends firstly on the branding, and more importantly on the location of a particular property.