Hotel companies in India are increasingly understanding the advantages of engaging with corporates in the city and the local elite crowd by introducing the club concept through attractive membership benefits. While the corporate members look for business meetings/ conferencing venues, their families are happy with the usage of facilities like swimming pool, fitness centre, etc. From corporate lunches to Sunday brunches, F&B becomes a major factor for both these segments, with hotel restaurants assured of a steady stream of guests. The fact that this revenue is not dependent on room occupancy gives a fillip to the business even during the lean season. Our cover story this issue examines what’s the club advantage.
Our ‘Life’ section provides you with an insightful article on luxury brand management in hospitality. With luxury brands in every field, from automobiles to fashion, to tourism and hospitality, the opportunity is immense. Professionals need to consider this as one of the leading career possibilities for the future. Every industry wants to set its own niche in the luxury sector, thus necessitating the need for well trained and niche focused professionals. One part of this is the global luxury hotels market that was valued at US$ 148.6 bn in 2014 and is expected to reach US$ 195.3 bn by 2021, rising at a CAGR of 4.0 per cent from 2015 to 2021.
Indians have also made an impression globally as entrepreneurs. Girish Jhunjhnuwala, the Indian origin owner and founder of Hong Kong-based lifestyle hospitality brand, Ovolo Hotels, is looking at attracting the experimental Indian traveller and expanding his brand to different countries, including India. Further, Arjun Gadkari’s opinion on the global hot sauce market and India’s position in the business is worth a read.
Reema Lokesh
Editor
