Marriott India to have 100 hotels by next year

PANAJI: American hospitality group Marriott International Inc will have 100 operational hotels in the country by 2018, a top executive has said. The world’s largest hotel chain which began its operations in the country in 1997 with a project in Goa, currently has 86 hotels and 15 brands spanning 35 cities.

Panaji, August 7

American hospitality group Marriott International Inc will have 100 operational hotels in the country by 2018, a top executive has said.

The world’s largest hotel chain which began its operations in the country in 1997 with a project in Goa, currently has 86 hotels and 15 brands spanning 35 cities.

“Marriott International has 86 hotels in the country and we are the biggest hotel company in the world. We have so far opened four hotels in the country this year and will open six more during the year,” Marriott International South Asia president Neeraj Govil told PTI during opening of Le Meridian at Calangute in the coastal state.

He said they were looking at tertiary cities like Indore, Amritsar, Coimbatore, Jaipur and others for more properties.

“We will hit our hundred in 2018. We also have another 100 hotels in the pipeline, so we are looking at opening somewhere between 15 and 20 hotels a year in the country every year over the next five years,” Govil said.

He said the tourism growth had been very strong due to the measures introduced by the government which had made the destinations more people-friendly. “One of the pillars of growth, as projected by the government is tourism. The government is also very proactive in infrastructure development which helps bring in a lot more people.”

Marriott as a company, he said, is targeting all the customers, be it leisure or groups. “Most importantly, we’ve turned our focus towards domestic consumers. Because we’ve 15 brands we play at various price points. We don’t get into the market from pricing perspective. We try to win the customers.”

The hotel chain nets 75 per cent of its business from domestic consumers.

The company, a couple of weeks ago, launched an initiative called ‘Shadi by Marriott’, a wedding-focused campaign. “It’s a big signal that consumer here is the consumer of today and the future,” he said. It is looking at different kinds of weddings, including overseas, seven-star, five-star, beach wedding, destination wedding and others.

“We have 86 hotels and 15 brands, so there is a brand for every segment. Annual growth is high double-digit. Since the time we have been here, we’ve been growing above the market and also growing our market share,” Govil said. PTI