West Delhi new playground
The West Delhi hoteliers feel that with the presence of new hotels in the region, F&B, banqueting and MICE business are now bouncing back...
As the capital city of India now evolves from being a macro to a micro market in recent times, emergence of
This year, we are targetting at least 33% incremental business from MICE
business within the city and the NCR has been witnessed. One of the areas which has now emerged as a new playground for hoteliers is West Delhi. The region now boasts of at least six branded luxury hotels. Interestingly, most hotels garner maximum business from its average room rate (ARR) component. However, in the case of the West Delhi hotels, cash registers keep ringing due to other significant key segments -- F&B and banqueting. Hoteliers in the region unanimously feel that residents of this area are, to a large part, affluent business families. In the absence of options, they had no choice but to travel to Central and South Delhi for business and recreation. But this business has now bounced back in the region.
Rubal Chaudhry, GM, Hilton New Delhi / Janakpuri feels Janakpuri and the area around it offers a lot of potential that remains untapped and has not been explored by other hotel companies. “As Hilton New Delhi/ Janakpuri has the advantage of being the only five-star hotel in the area, it has filled the lacuna by offering a complete array of upscale amenities and guest services, including rooms that start at a spacious 355 square feet and extensive dining options that include six restaurants and bars. At 30,000 square feet, the conference and banqueting facilities at the hotel are among the largest in the city and accommodates up to
Business remains in West Delhi as there are hotels supporting banqueting needs Developing the culture of luxury hotels in West Delhi is of prime importance
2,500 persons.” In 2011, the hotel’s revenue from MICE increased four-fold over the previous year. “This year we are targeting at least 33 per cent incremental business from MICE,” he adds.
Talking about the scope of banqueting in the region,
Preet Inder Singh, GM, Radisson Blu Hotel New Delhi Paschim Vihar opines, “Between the five-six branded hotels in the proximity, we share almost ` 50-60 crore of banqueting business on an average for the entire year. Earlier this business would get diverted to South Delhi due to the lack of presence of good hotels. However, now the business remains in West Delhi as there are hotels to support the banqueting needs.” Incidentally, the hotel witnessed so much of prebookings for its banqueting facilities that Radisson Blu Hotel New Delhi Paschim Vihar opened doors to its banquets much earlier than the hotel launch.
According to Kanchan Rizvi, Director of Sales & Marketing, Radisson Blu Hotel New Delhi Paschim Vihar, the recent presence of big hotels in West Delhi has helped in destination selling. “Developing the culture of luxury hotels in West Delhi is of prime importance. The notion earlier was that West Delhi is too far. This is where we have the advantage as Radisson Blu Hotel New Delhi Paschim Vihar is bang on the Outer Ring Road,” she says.
The market has seen a rapid increase in supply and today there are over 500 rooms
Apart from luxury offerings, the region also has supply of branded budget hotels. Talking about the evolution of the West Delhi market,
Gurpal Singh Kalra, GM, Premier Inn, Shalimar Bagh points out, “When the hotel opened last year, the supply of quality bedrooms in the budget segment were 60 rooms. The market has witnessed a rapid increase in the supply and today there are over 500 rooms in the market.” For its first year of operations, the hotel closed at 55 per cent occupancy.