Hyatt Hotels Corporation is a global hospitality company with widely recognised, industry leading brands and a tradition of innovation developed over more than five decades. It has about 453 properties spread across the world with predominant presence in the US. Peter Fulton, managing director of Hyatt International, South West Asia and oversees hotels in the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, talks with FE?s Kavitha Venkatraman at Hyatt Regency?s property in Dubai about the hospitality industry in India.
How do you see the Indian market vis-a-vis other countries? What is your road map for the country?
Several studies say that there are few five-star and five-star deluxe hotels in India. And there is tremendous scope in all categories including four-star, three-star and limited service hotels. Though the metro cities offer lot of opportunities for growth, tier II and tier III destinations like Ahmedabad, Surat and Raipur are also becoming important markets. Hyatt entered India about 30 years ago with Hyatt Regency in New Delhi and then over a period of time we introduced our other two brands Grand Hyatt and Park Hyatt into the market. The company will soon be introducing its Hyatt Place and Hyatt Summerfield Suites projects in India.
There is an influx of international brands in the hospitality sector in the recent times. How would Hyatt stand out in the crowd? What would be the brand differentiator?
As hotels proliferate across the world, it is very difficult to turnaround and differentiate with technology as it keeps changing. The key thing that has been missing in the earlier days is the soft touch and that is what is important for Hyatt. We feel that personality and soul of the property are the two key factors that would make Hyatt special to customers. Wherever we go, we plan and try to ensure that the product that we put together has an international flair coupled with a local touch. Our focus has been on hiring the right kind of people and developing them to be young hoteliers of the future.
What are your key factors for growth, especially in India? And which are the brands that would give the necessary boost in the market?
Traditionally business travel has been the key earner for us. But in the next 3-5 years, we are expecting the leisure segment to participate well in the overall performance. It is going to be in region of 70% business travel and 30% leisure because India as a destination has a lot of offer. Hyatt Place ? a limited service product is going to be the growth vehicle for us in India. We are ensuring that the product is slightly more customer centric. It is going to be an affordable product in the four-star category with one restaurant, a functional room with select service. It will be a very specific offering with attractive tariffs. Though this segment is not big in India we are looking at it in the long term. We really feel that Hyatt Place will do good within the sub continent especilly when we look at tier II and III cities.
(Travel for the story was sponsored by Hyatt)