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Hotel companies are looking at smaller cities to expand their footprint in the country, The Economic Times (ET) reports. As a result of this, many lesser-known locations like Khajjiar in Himachal Pradesh, Kevadia and Vithalapur in Gujarat are beginning to get branded star-category hospitality facilities.
President of South Asia at HVS Anarock, a hospitality consultancy, Mandeep S Lamba, told the newspaper that hotel companies are making inroads into tier-2, tier-3 and even tier-4 cities as they have now taken note of the market potential at these locations. Growing leisure and business travel presents a strong business prospect in these locations, he said.
Fortune Hotels announced the opening of its new hotel in Khajjiar this week. Its managing director, Samir MC, told ET that the hotel chain would launch new hotels in Tiruppur, Aligarh, and Hoshiarpur in the next quarter of this financial year. The report added that the group is also planning new hotels in Kevadia and Hosur.
Another industry insider, Nikhil Sharma, who is market managing director for Eurasia at Wyndham Hotel and Resorts, was cited in the ET report as saying that there is a strategic focus on tier-3 and tier-4 locations such as Ambala, Bhiwadi, Dhanbad, Gorakhpur, Khopoli, Panipat, and Viragam in Wyndham's upcoming plans.
As more and more visitors flock to small-town locations, hotel companies are working fast to take advantage of being the first mover at these locations.
Hotel chain Lemon Tree has a similar plan carved out for it as the group works towards launching new hotels in Chirang, Erode, Jabalpur, Banswara, Chandausi, Tezpur, Bharuch, Kharar and Sri Ganganagar.
