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With one hotel in Jaipur, what does Fairmont's pipeline look like in India?
We would like to be in the key cities of India like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and also resort locations. We have signed a letter of intent for a resort in Goa and also for a property in Mumbai. Both should start construction in the next few months. We want to have 12 hotels in the five to 10 years here.
Globally also, we want to be in all the mega cities of the world. We are not in Hong Kong right now. We are also looking at Paris and Milan. So we are looking at expanding our portfolio.
Your overall portfolio includes 69 hotels. Do you think Fairmont has kept its presence limited?
We are satisfied with what we have. We feel our brand probably belongs to 120 hotels. We are very much on a growth trajectory. We are opening five hotels this year. There are several more in the pipeline. We opened in Manila recently. We have maximum number of hotels in North America. We are seeing incredibly strong growth in China and the Middle East and good growth in Asia.
How important is the Indian market?
India is a core strategic market for us. We see the Indian market as critical not only for our growth in India but also for its outbound growth for our hotels around the world. For that, it is important to have a presence in India because you want people to know your brand.
With so many global brands setting foot in India, how will you be different from the rest?
Fairmont addresses a market. We want to be a part of a community, and our hotels to have a sense of the place. In Jaipur, we have been very sensitive to the architecture and the hotel embodies the culture of the city; it's authentic. This is a part of what we do. We don't want to replicate The Plaza. We want a hotel that resonates the Indian hotel consumer.
With Subroto Roy, now the owner of the Plaza Hotel, how have things changed for you as the management company of the property?
We know we share the same vision for the Plaza, which continues to make it the best hotel in North America. That is our landmark. It is the most famous hotel in the world in the most famous corner of the world. We have committed owners in Sahara. We have a wonderful partnership. I am sure they feel the same way about us.
Has there been change in the way you function?
The change in ownership has taken place only recently, so I think we have not made any changes. The hotel was only recently renovated and restored.
It is a matter of positioning the hotel as the top hotel in New York and North America.
As a management company, do you enjoy complete independence and what role does the owner play? Did Roy give his inputs?
We are a management company and we manage it on behalf of the owner, but naturally, we work very closely with ownership and we have conversations on a regular basis. He (Roy) bought it because it was a Plaza hotel. We have not made any dramatic changes yet and we don't expect that we would make any dramatic changes to the Plaza.
What concerns you the most about the Indian market?
We have to make sure that we get our strategy and project right. Jaipur design is very much in the spirit of the architecture. It's very important for us that the hotel has to be true to our brand and that will be challenging. Besides, hiring talent is the biggest challenge. We hire for talent and then train for skill. From dishwasher to executives to directors, everyone undergoes a process of training. We have a very strong culture of training and retaining our top people.
