Rituparna Chatterjee – Mumbai
VingCard Elsafe, an international producer of hotel locking systems, electronic in-room safes and energy management systems, is strengthening its base in the mid-segment Goa hospitality market through its economy line of RFID locks, mini bars and safes and is targeting hotels with rooms as less as 40-50. Sumeet Sobti, managing director, Apex India, which was started by him and his brother Sameer Sobti and represents VingCard Elsafe in western India (Gujarat, Goa, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh) stated, “We have been selling this economy line in Goa since two years and have done almost 10 hotels. Earlier we were selling only locks, but now we are selling locks, mini bars and safes as a package. We can sell this package to any hotel who sells a room above Rs 2000 per night. In this mid-segment, VingCard Elsafe has the potential to sell 500 locks by doing 10-12 projects every year and presently the total size of the market is double of that. We have two resident technicians in Goa to provide 24/7 hour support, which is a big USP for us.”
VingCard Elsafe has been a part of the Goa hospitality market since many years with installations in several high-end properties. Presently, it has a portfolio of almost 20 properties and about 1500 locks. The economy line was launched to enable VingCard Elsafe to get a strong foothold of the mid-segment market as well. Speaking about their business in the market, Sobti states, “Goa contributes more than 25 per cent to our business. We were the pioneers in bringing RFID locks to Goa, which are very suited for its climate. The first installation was at Vivanta by Taj Panaji Goa in 2008 followed by other brands like The Leela, Marriott, Grand Hyatt, Novotel, Grand Mercure, Planet Hollywood, among others. We continue to be the market leader in the high-end segment and have got orders for W Goa and Hyatt Place and are talking to Aloft.”
VingCard Elsafe has also launched a mobile access solution wherein its locks can be operated with mobile devices through Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology thereby removing queuing for check-in and keycard encoding. Moreover, earlier this year, Apex India expanded into the kitchen equipment space by launching a kitchen vertical – Apex Kitchen Solutions – which represents various brands in this segment including, Hobart, Hoshizaki and Foster Refrigeration among others on a pan India basis.