Sudipta Dev – Mumbai
Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) has one of the world’s largest collection of luxury properties with 375 hotels in 75 countries. Almost 95 per cent of the properties are independent hotels, including many iconic ones that are destinations on their own. With offices in Mumbai and Delhi, LHW has long term plans for India as a source market. “The India market has been growing 25 per cent year-on-year. The appetite from this market has grown for the unique experiences that our hotels offer,” said Philip Ho, senior VP, Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia Pacific, LHW. Pointing out that India is an important market for LHW, he mentioned, “We are investing in the business to grow in the next 50 years.”
The popular hotels for the India market range from those at the usual destinations like London, Paris, New York, Milan Rome, Florence and Switzerland, to new places trending well like Croatia, Prague, Marrakesh, Vienna, Barcelona and Miami. Almost 80 per cent of the business in India comes through travel agents. “The Indian travel agents have supported us well over the years. The guests being billionaires and multi-millionaires have their own favourite travel agency. It is not just about hotel booking, they look for bespoke experiences. We help the agencies to create those,” mentioned Ho, adding that the marketing efforts will be expanded to Tier II markets.
Leading Hotels of the World has incubated many luxury hotel brands over the last 88 years. “When they grew from single properties to multiple properties quite naturally they had their own structure to support themselves and left the family,” stated Ho, reminding that LHW has been known for its independent, luxury hotels, and remains that way.
Earlier Taj Luxury Hotels and Oberoi Group were a part of LHW, currently there are no properties in India. “If there are Indian developers and hoteliers who want to create their own iconic and legendary hotels for the next many generations, we will be here to support them. They will know where to find us. We are in discussions all the time,” said Ho, revealing that they are in talks with a developer in Mumbai.
Many of the hotels have been part of LHW for generations, e.g. Baur au Lac in Zurich, where the Nobel Peace Prize was conceptualised, is popular with Indian clientele.