Archana Sharma – New Delhi
Dubai-based Jumeirah Group, a luxury hotel chain, is set to open its first property in India by 2019. Talking on the sidelines of the 11th Hotel Investment Conference – South Asia (HICSA) 2015, held in New Delhi, Gerald Lawless, president and CEO, Jumeirah Group, stated, “We have signed a management contract and by 2019 we will have our first operational property in Mumbai under the Jumeirah brand.”
Talking about their expansion plans, Lawless believes India is a potential market and people are already aware of the Jumeirah brand. “We are also looking at developing another property in Goa and are currently in discussions with our partner,” he stated.
On the plans to introduce their lifestyle brand, ‘Venu’, Sudhin Siva, director of development, Jumeirah Group, stated that they will be looking at both business as well as leisure areas for the brand. “Currently, we are looking at the Tier I and metro markets only, as Venu is a lifestyle brand and needs to target the urban clientele,” he stated. They are looking at locations like Bengaluru, Chennai, New Delhi among others for further development. Highlighting the potential markets for the Jumeirah Group in the South Asian region, Siva believes that apart from India, Sri Lanka is a potential market for expansion.
Following a management contract model, Jumeirah Group aims to have 75 Jumeirah-branded properties and 25 Venu-branded properties worldwide by 2025. Presently, Jumeirah has operational properties in cities including Abu Dhabi, Baku, Dubai, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Maldives and London.
Lawless also informed that there are several projects under development in the Middle East, North Africa, Asia Pacific and Europe.