Atmosphere Hotels & Resorts, aiming for a robust presence in India market
Atmosphere Hotels & Resorts, a dynamic and fast-growing Indian Ocean hospitality group, recently announced the appointment of Souvagya Mohapatra as the Managing Director for India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan. This announcement signals significant growth plans, with a strong focus on the Indian subcontinent. Mohapatra’s experience of launching world-class hotels, his knack for identifying the right destination at the right time for strategic benefits, along with immense market knowledge will help and guide Atmosphere Hotels & Resorts in South Asia. In an exclusive interview with TTJ, Mohapatra sheds more light on the brand and the role he has to play.
Please let us know about your prior experiences in the hospitality business?
My tryst with the hospitality sector began in the year 1992 and it will now be more than 27 years that I have been associated with this industry. My short tenure at The Oberoi group just after the Hotel Management School has pushed my career with a strong foundation. Post my tenure at Oberoi, I was associated with Mayfair Hotels and Resorts for the most part of my career. I joined Mayfair Group in the year 1994 when it had only two properties in its portfolio and my major responsibility there included steering the sales and marketing strategy of the group, along with planning and executing its expansion plans. I must mention that in these 27 years, from a two-property resort, the brand grew to be a distinguished chain of 12 Luxury Resorts having a presence across 10 destinations in the country. I am confident that my past experience, especially on the expansion of business along with my familiarity with the India market will benefit the group.
Tell us more about Atmosphere Hotels & Resorts in the Indian Ocean region?
Atmosphere Hotels & Resorts is a dynamic and fast-growing Indian Ocean
Hotels & Resorts group registered office in Singapore and corporate office in the Maldives. Atmosphere’s first property, Atmosphere Kanifushi, opened its doors in December 2013. The group opened its second property, OBLU by Atmosphere at Helengeli, in November 2015; followed by their flagship Lifestyle Luxury sub-brand, THE OZEN COLLECTION, in July 2016 with the launch of OZEN LIFE MAADHOO followed by the launch of OZEN RESERVE BOLIFUSHI in December 2020; and then OBLU Select at Sangeli, which opened in July 2018. The newest addition to the portfolio is VARU by Atmosphere was unfolded in October 2019. Atmosphere Group is also adding two more properties in Maldives and two properties in Sri Lanka.
Any thoughts about launching the Atmosphere brand in the India market?
Having successful ventures in the Maldives and upcoming Resorts in Sri
Lanka, now the Group wants to venture into India, Nepal & Bhutan. As regards to our expansion in India, our focus is to explore across the country and wait for the right opportunities. India is blessed with varied tourism potential. It has always been replete with all that a travel connoisseur could ask for and with the improvement in the overall core infrastructure and connectivity, it makes for a very good investment opportunity. Our Business Development team is already in the job of identifying properties in potential destinations such as Goa, Kerala, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Guwahati, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, etc. Preferably, our Ozen brand will debut in these destinations. Our Ozen collection is an award-winning, Uber-Lux hospitality brand, and its resorts offer ultimate privacy blended with signature luxury aesthetics, for blissfully immersive holidays in pristine, Indian Ocean locations.
I am more than happy to share that the Govt. of Odisha recently approved our proposal to establish a Five-Star property at Bhubaneswar and we shall come up with a World-Class property there very soon. Indian Market remains a top priority for us and in the years to come, Atmosphere will have a very robust presence in this country which remains one of the fastest growing tourism markets.
What makes your properties unique from others in the region?
Atmosphere Hotels & Resorts, Maldives offers guest-centric resort experiences through unique Resort Plans. The offerings include a range of all-encompassing experiences, with varieties of dining options as well as several value-added amenities and activities that ensure a relaxed, hassle-free holiday experience at each resort, all while staying true to the brand’s core philosophy: ‘The Joy of Giving’. These are some of the uniqueness that sets us apart from the others in the region wherever we are present.
What will be your role in the given markets? How confident are you in making a mark with the Indian audience, given the COVID situation?
This is a very difficult time for the entire industry. It is time for everyone to incorporate cost control measures and adopt innovative technologies for survival. However, the Indian subcontinent has a lot of potential as far as the hospitality and tourism industries are concerned. There are plenty of destinations possessing amazing tourism potentials in India which need to be explored. Our primary aim is to explore those untapped destinations and come up with world-class resorts. This is just an initiative in part of Atmosphere Group for enhancing the tourist inflows in India, both domestic and foreign. With our years-long expertise in understanding the Indian market, I do not think it will be much of a problem to establish the desired business post-pandemic.
How are your hotels reaching out to new, evolved, and changed customers?
Safety, security, and hygiene are some of the factors that matter a lot for a traveller in the current scenario. With our highest degree of hospitality services across all six properties, coupled with luxury and the factors that I mentioned sets us apart.
Contactless services, new normal practices, and innovative cost control measures that our employees are trained and constantly practicing without hampering the standard of the organisation. However, with travel restrictions from maximum countries, the entire world is suffering and so are we. This is just a matter of time and I am sure it will pass by very soon.
Do you see the Indian hospitality industry still evolving despite the pandemic? By when do you expect to see stability in the industry?
I see great potential in the Indian Hospitality market. With that being said, I agree that the kind of crisis the pandemic outbreak has triggered in our industry will take time to recover, but sooner than later, it will stand back on its feet and that too stronger than ever. I believe the biggest strength of the Indian Hospitality market is the presence of a rising middle class with increasing disposable incomes. This apart, one must also know that the growth of the Indian Tourism and Hospitality market is majorly fuelled by its Domestic Tourism and as restrictions on travel are lifted, more and more people will travel, leading to a more than faster-expected recovery. We all are aware of the recent surge in tourist footfall in the hill situations which was termed as revenge tourism what we may not be knowing is that particular rush had led to occupancy levels in hotels going as high as 60-70 per cent and by this standard, I assume that we shall be back to the pre-COVID level of growths in the next two quarters.
In terms of evolution, the major change we all will see will be on the safety and hygiene perspective along with more focus on health and wellness. Indian Hospitality Industry has adapted to these changes in a very impressive way and as we move ahead, we shall continue witnessing this evolution because guests will now be more conscious than ever of these criteria, and brands that reassure them will see great business.