Chennai makeover for MICE
With three luxury hotels in the last two months – Park Hyatt Chennai, The Leela Palace Chennai and Grand Chola – the city is joining the league of cities that are preferred MICE destinations…
The hospitality industry down South just got busier. Owing to the boom in the automobile industry, ITITES and pharmaceutical sectors, the city hotels are now finding new clientele among top executives of companies. The fact that new hotels cater to their specific needs with more technical facilities, banquet halls and conference rooms, has helped the hotel industry in the region. Resultantly, Chennai is now joining the league of cities that are preferred MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) destinations globally.
Syama Raju, President, South India Hotels & Restaurants Association (SIHRA) feels, “The expansion of the existing airport also indicates the growing need to boost the capacity to cope with the increased air demand in the area. With strong growth in visitor numbers and improving economic environment, the longterm outlook for the Chennai hotel market will remain strong and positive.”
According to Colliers International research, relative to other cities in India, Chennai has performed well, achieving occupancy rates of 66 per cent in 2009, 62 per cent in 2010 compared to 66 per cent in 2011, representing an increase of three per cent despite a 12 per cent growth in additional available rooms during the same period. The decline in 2010 was largely due to the global economic crisis but the market fully recovered in 2011 despite the addition of the new supply to the market.
Over the next three years, the Chennai market is expected to add almost 2,835 new rooms while approximately 935 were added in the last year. In the last two months, three new five-star hotels have opened in the city, bringing in an additional 1,300 rooms to Chennai’s already existing 2,000-room inventory.
Park Hyatt Chennai is the most recent offering in Chennai. Talking about the evolving Chennai market, Yann Gillet, General Manager, Park Hyatt Chennai pointed out, “The city has braced up to a complete roller coaster ride. The growth in the automotive and IT industries has led to a huge movement in terms of corporate travel. Hyatt sensed a need for a brand that would create a personal address for distinguished guests in calm and tranquil surrounds while preserving a proximity to the airport and major business districts.” Park Hyatt Chennai is the 30th hotel in the Park Hyatt collection and the first Park Hyatt hotel to be introduced in Chennai, he adds. Designed as a tranquil retreat for the business traveller, Park Hyatt Chennai is located next to the prestigious Governor’s residence and is also adjacent to the thriving green area of the Guindy National Park. A 15-minute drive from the city’s domestic and international airport, Park Hyatt Chennai enjoys close proximity to the new developments of OMR (Old Mahabalipuram Road), Sri Perumbudur and the Guindy Industrial Estate.
The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts, owned and operated by Hotel Leela Venture, is also opening a sea-facing hotel in Chennai, its first such property in South India. The hotel chain would launch The Leela Palace Chennai with 11 floors and 326 rooms. This is the group’s eighth property in the country, spread across six acres, facing the Bay of Bengal.
ITC also launched the company’s biggest property in India. The 600key luxury hotel in Chennai - - Grand Chola is also the world’s largest LEED Platinum green hotel. The company has invested over Rs 1,200 crore in the property which spreads over eight acres of land.
Gearing up for MICE, the hotel complex also houses one lakh sq.ft. of conference and exhibition facilities, which, according to the company, is by far the biggest in the country — 10 food and beverage outlets, a spa, a preview theatre and 40,000 sq.ft. of retail space.
Y. C. Deveshwar, Chairman, ITC, during the launch said, “This kind of banqueting space will market Chennai in a big way and will bring in a lot of new businesses.”