Hilton Worldwide, a global hospitality chain, is aiming to become the top global hotel brand in India with 20 properties under various stages of development and another 20 under negotiations.
As a first step towards achieving the goal, the hotel major is targeting to have a total of 15 properties by the end of 2012.
Christopher J Nassetta, president and CEO, Hilton Worldwide, said, ?India is considered the best hospitality market with a large population and significant middle-class. By 2012, we are planning to triple our hotel properties in the country, Currently, we have five properties spread across Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai under Hilton?s three brands and we will be spreading to places like Bangalore as well.?
Currently, Hilton has close to 800 rooms and over a period of five years it is planning to reach 7,000 rooms. The new properties will have a mix of its brands mostly owned by partners and managed by itself. ?We are in the process of widening our basket of partners,? Nassetta said.
Recently, Hilton has signed a management agreement with Eros Resorts and Hotels to manage two properties at Mayur Vihar in New Delhi. The agreement will also see the introduction of first Double Tree by Hilton in India. The property is scheduled to open within the next two months. Once completed, the Mayur Vihar property will offer 173 guest rooms including six suits, three food and beverage outlets and an all-day dining restaurant, among other amenities.
?Hilton Worldwide is one of the fastest growing hotel companies in terms of deals signed globally. For 2010, we achieved a global pipeline that included 868 hotels and more than 138,000 rooms worldwide. We are focusing a significant amour of our development efforts in the Asia-Pacific region, with 112 hotels and 32,916 rooms in the pipeline. We foresee phenomenal opportunities in India, from 5 to 15,? he said.
Betting on the emerging markets in India, Nassetta said major constraints in the country are the time taken for the process as well as the land acquisition issues. On investment, he said, ?we only invest on people and infrastructure, not on projects.?
Globally, Hilton is in the process of consolidating its properties across 82 countries. Subsequently, it has now decided to have more properties outside US.
?Around 75% will be set up now outside the US to evenly balance our portfolio across continents.?
Hilton in February had opened its property in Chennai. The five-star 204-room Hilton Chennai, owned by Empee Group, which has diversified interests from alcoholic beverages to property development, was built with an initial investment of Rs 400 crore.