Pride Group striving to set higher standards in all spheres of hospitality
Satyen Jain, CEO, Pride Group of Hotels, has always shared his father, SP Jain’s passion for hospitality. His father has been a true motivator and guiding force for his entry into the hospitality sector. In this interaction with TTJ, Satyen talks about strengthening their ‘Truly Indian’ hospitality experience that resonates with comfort and warm hospitality and their major expansion plan primarily targeted towards tier 2 and tier 3 cities.
Pride Hotels operates and manages a chain of hotels under the brand name ‘Pride Plaza Hotel,’ which is essentially an Indian Luxury Collection. The ‘Pride Hotels’ are conveniently centrally located business hotels, while one can find the ‘Pride Resorts’ at mesmerising destinations. They also have a mid-market hotel brand suited for the business traveller, the ‘Pride Biznotel’. All four brands are well appreciated and frequented by corporate clients and domestic and foreign tourists. Recently, they have forayed into the premium service apartment space with the launch of their new brand ‘Pride Suites,’ with the first property signed in Gurugram.
Subsequent to the challenges due to the pandemic in the past two years, the hotel group has witnessed exponential growth. They have performed much better in 2021-2022 compared to 2020-2021. They have almost doubled their turnover. The ADR and occupancy have gone up from 43 per cent to 65 per cent for 20222023.
While speaking about the scope of budget hotels and the 3–4-star hotels in India, Satyen says, “While five-star hotels in India are at par with global competitors, there is a near absence of internationally acceptable three-star and four-star hotels. Also, there is a great scope in the budget hotel category and all the leading hospitality players are eying this segment.”
As mid-market segment hotels like Pride Hotels also receive international corporate and leisure guests, the lack of inbound travellers should make some difference in their revenues. On this, Satyen shares, “I think the worst is over. The inbound travel segment is staging
a significant revival post-pandemic. The government has recently announced a target of 80 new airports by 2025, which in turn will be a major boost to the tourism and hospitality sector as the demand for rooms will increase manifold. The number of new hotel signings too is seeing a significant increase as compared to the previous years. The growth in room supply is likely to increase to meet the growing demand of the inflow of tourists, primarily in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.”
Pride Hotels is a homegrown brand that resonates with true Indian hospitality. The group’s vision is to establish Pride Hotels as the best Indian hospitality chain. Pride Hotels plans to expand its presence to 100 properties with over 10,000 keys spread across various geographical regions, primarily in tier 1 and tier 2 markets. The focus is on an asset-light model for expansion with a major slice of the portfolio managed directly by the company. “Most of the new properties will be located in popular leisure destinations with great tourism potential. We would be focussing on the domestic market at present. While we will have 50 properties by the end of this year, we plan to expand our footprints nationally by doubling our portfolio to 100 hotels by 2030,” shares Satyen.
Satyen thinks it will take a couple of years for the industry to stabilise fully. The Government of India has lately introduced various economic reforms to revive the industry. The measures that the hotels want the government to take include conserving cash flow, GST withholding, and compulsory directive to be given to the banks to extend principal and interest payment for two quarters. Also, some tax credits for payments, some waivers on property taxes, and other measures to uplift the industry are expected.
Satyen, like his father, is acknowledged for his contributions and achievements in the hospitality industry. When asked about the qualities of a successful hotelier, Satyen said, “I believe that one shouldn’t get too comfortable with success, nor get too bogged down by failure, as both are transient. Having a vision and a point of view is necessary which one should stick to. I also believe that the ability to take risks and to understand the ever-changing environment is extremely important. People who understand change and adapt to it are the ones who will thrive.”