European hospitality major Swissotel is set to come up with three more five-star hotels in India by 2013.
Ferry Warnke, general manager of Swissotel Kolkata, the only Swissotel in India, said two hotels would be in Bangalore and one at Gurgaon. “Among the three, two will be newly-built ones and will be opening by 2013, while the remaining one will be a reflagging in Bangalore next year,” Warnke said.
Swissotel is also in talks with a number of companies to set up hotels in other cities. “We have many other letter of intents for new hotels, but until it comes under the hotel management agreement, we cannot really announce it,” Warnke added.
Swissotel Hotels & Resorts is a group of deluxe hotels, owned by Fairmont Raffles Hotels International — a leading global hotel company, with more than 90 hotels worldwide under the Raffles, Fairmont and Swissotel brands.
He did not reveal the investments and the partners, as Swissotel is an asset-free company.
The Kolkata facility, owned by Ambuja Realty and spread over 160,000 sq ft at Rajarhat in north eastern fringes of the city, marked the entry of Swissotel into India. Ambuja was understood to have invested around Rs 100 crore in it.
Harsh Neotia-led Bengal Ambuja Housing Development Ltd had signed a 10-year management contract with Swissotel in 2009. According to Warnke, Swissotel has about 30 hotels across the world. “There are many plans for India on the pipeline by all our three brands. Fairmont is also planning to open in Jaipur and Hyderabad,” he added. Fairmont Raffles may come up with hotels in the Philippines and China.
Regarding the Kolkata facility’s performance, he said, “We have not finished one year going into operations. We are satisfied, as the facility is doing operationally and financially well. The hospitality industry in the city is going to grow above eight per cent. Today, there are about 1,250 five-star rooms in the city and in the next three to five years, it is expected to double.”
