The previous two editions of this Hospitality India Conclave series can be accessed here – Part 1, Part 2. In this edition we will discuss the presentation by Zia Shiekh, CEO & MD, Svenska Design Hotels on the topic “Awakening The Tiger – New Trends, Concepts and Innovation In Indian Hospitality”. It was a 60 minute presentation by Zia Shiekh, excerpts are below:

1. The Sleeping Tiger – Traditional Indian Hospitality

• Traditional indian 5 stars: Taj, TC, Leela, Oberoi. MNC 5 stars: Hyatt, Hilton
• Mid market and budget segments, fragmented, unorganized and inconsistent

2. Tiger Awakens: Birth of New Segments

• Organized budget players: Ginger, Keys, ibis, Hotel Formula 1, Redfox
• Organized mid market: Lemon Tree etc
• Upper midscale: Courtyard, Four point, Aloft, Hyatt, Holiday Inn, Fairfield
• New luxury entrants: W Hotels, Swissotel, Shangrila, Sofitel, Four Seasons, Fairmont
• Next frontier: Experiential designer hospitality: Armani, BVLGARI, W Hotels, Versace, ISI, ANDAZ, AMAN Resorts, Hotel Missoni, Morgans Hotel Group.

Services offered across different segment of hotels can be compared to the “Armani watch vs Titan watch”. Both the brand watches show the same time, the utility is the same in both brands. But, why people pay huge sum of money for an Armani? It’s the brand, experience and feel that ultimately matters.

3. Tiger Roars

Traits of the new generation hotels:

• Personalized: Individual, intimate, exclusive, distinctive and tailored
• Lifestyle orientation: Fine arts and culture – fashion, music, art, theater
• High concept architecture and design: Modern, minimalistic, contemporary, chic, trendy
• Inspirational and aspirational: Guests in the spotlight, “see and be seen”
• Gourmet destinations: Signature restaurants, eclectic cuisines, chic bars (celebrity chefs)

Ethos of the new generation hotels:

• Staff make them designer
  • Smart, attractive and well trained
  • Each guest is greeted by their name
  • Frequent / long staying guests are known intimately
  • Lady chauffeurs driving luxury cars
  • Bouncer profile security guards
• Culture of individuality and personality
  • High on attitude, have the vibe, friendly and warm attitude
  • You are where you sleep, this is “my” thing
  • Versus sameness, norms, uniformity, mainstream
  • Signifies achievement: I have arrived.

4. Small format luxury

Designing experiences:

• Welcome drink
• Private butler service
• In room entertainment
• Designer toiletries and guest amenities (linen, towel)
• In-room spa treatments
• Gourmet dining experiences
• Lifestlyle elements
  • Art gallery (inviting artists to exhibit their work or to perform)
  • Festival of music
  • Fashion shows (invite guests to participate – that’s unique and that’s hospitality)
  • Celebrity events

Moments of truth:

• Define all guest touch points
• Grab opportunities to create magical moments for guests

Know them:

• Favorite food and drink, their likes and dislikes, preferences

The Economics:

• Positives
  • Cost per key
  • Revenue generating areas
  • RevPAR (few small format luxury hotels has better RevPAR than high luxury segment hotels)
  • Revenue streams (not only rooms, but generating revenue through food and business meetings)
  • Repeat business
  • Break-even analysis
  • Recession handling capacity is better

• Negatives
  • Economies of scale (need to ensure that the hotel staff is multi-trained and need to handle multiple roles)
  • Profitability

Technology:

• Tailored solutions
  • Personalization
  • Social media
  • Mobile solutions

5. How The Business Traveler Connects

• Business travelers carry 3 to 4 mobile devices, the order of popularity of devices are: Smartphones,  tablets, music players and laptops
• As soon as traveler walks into the room, these are the things they do: 7% call home, 19% turn on TV, 18% take shower, 12% check their Facebook.
• 36% check their mobile phone as the first thing when they wakeup
• Tablets beating laptops: 70% preferred tablets over laptops
• Why traveler connects – To check email (90%), browsing and social activity (75%), read news (50%)

6. Vision 2020

• India’s travel scene currently: 810 million domestic travel (largest in world), 6 million international travel
• By 2020, it will be 1.7 billion domestic and 11million international travel
• Currently: India has 160K rooms, but Beijing alone has 130K, Las Vegas has 140K
• Indian cities avg 0.6 rooms per 1K people, global cities average 18 rooms per 1K people
• India needs estimated 180K new hotel rooms by 2020 at an investment of 127K crore
• Huge opportunity for hospitality industry suppliers

Stay tuned for 2 more articles in this series.
Author: Karthick Prabu