India a key market for FRHI
With three distinct brands, Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel, the Canadabased luxury hospitality chain FRHI Hotels & Resorts is looking at strengthening presence in India. Mark Sergot, Senior Vice President, Global Sales Organisation, FRHI Hotels & Resorts
Significant market
India is a core strategic market for us. We see the Indian market as critical not only for our growth in India but also for its outbound growth for our other hotels globally. For that, it is important to have a presence in India because you want people to know your brand. Thus, we have a twopronged strategy in India. We are looking at developing the India market to assist and manage the ongoing demand for inbound and domestic travellers here. Also we are looking at enhancing brand recognition for our global presence. We see opportunity for outbound travel to key Fairmont markets, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Beijing, Singapore, Shanghai, in addition to locations in Canada, US, Europe and Africa. The launch of Fairmont Jaipur and Swissotel Kolkata has definitely helped in introducing Indian travellers to our brand.
India office facilitating business
Seeing significant outbound opportunities from India, we opened our Global Sales Office for India in
Delhi four years ago. We have seen a spurt in generation of business across the three brands from this market, especially the leisure, MICE and wholesale segment via this office. The office is also looking at strengthening ties with the travel trade community in India.
Expansion plans
To establish our presence in India, we are looking at opening hotels in key gateway cities. Thus, opening Fairmont in Jaipur and the Swissotel in Kolkata were key strategies for our growth in the market. Going forward, we would look at Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi for the Fairmont
brand while destinations such as Goa will serve as an attractive location to grow our resorts portfolio. For Swissotel, we would like to be in secondary markets as we have witnessed a good response from the Kolkata property. We are working with partners and developers to look for opportunities in the country.
Challenges in the India market
Opening hotels all over the world is a complex affair and India is no exception. It is crucial for us that the hotel needs to be true to the brand and that is what is challenging. Hiring talent and retaining talent is also a huge challenge. We hire for talent and then train for skill. From dishwasher to executives to directors, everyone undergoes a process of training. We have a very strong culture of training and retaining our top people.
Fairmont is optimistic about the long-term growth story of India. Being a comparatively new international brand poses more opportunities than challenges.
The country’s luxury hospitality sector is growing and interestingly at a rapid pace. The Indian luxury hospitality industry has recorded healthy growth fuelled by increased tourist movement within the country and hearty inflow of overseas tourists.