Wyndham Hotel Group, which currently has 28 properties in India, has ambitious plans to expand its footprint across the country. Deepika Arora, regional vice president – Eurasia, Wyndham Hotel Group, speaks about the evolution of the brand in India and some key projects coming up in many of the 16 countries she is in charge of
What according to you have been the key milestones for Wyndham Hotel Group in the region – from expansion to brand awareness?
Wyndham Hotel Group has a strong presence across tier I, tier II and tier III cities across India. In Chennai, the third property is opening soon. In Bengaluru there is Howard Johnson, and Days Inn is opening in a few months time, and we have an Encore. Howard Johnson does a lot of F&B events. In Mumbai, we are in Juhu, Powai and Navi Mumbai. In Gurgaon, there is one property and another under construction.
One of the key successes is that operationally we have grown our footprint from five to 28 hotels in India and 36 in the region I look after. I started with three countries and today I need to look after 16 countries. That is another big milestone. We have gone from 1000 rooms to 2800 rooms in India to 3800 in the region I take care of. We have grown from one Ramada brand to now Howard Johnson, Days Inn, Encore, Ramada Plaza. Another milestone is evolving the brand image. Six years back, when I would go and sell any of my brands, people would not know about Wyndham. Till date it is a bit of a challenge, people do not relate to Wyndham as they relate to Ramada, because of visibility. That was my biggest challenge. We revamped the look and feel of the brand, so you see beautiful products including one which we recently opened in Kumbhalgarh. Encore is a brand we opened in a market in Jalandhar, and the customers have taken it positively, in addition to the Ramada brand in Jalandhar. Another property that has upped the benchmark for our Ramada brand is the Ramada Lucknow. Lucknow is one market where everyone wants to be. The challenge is connectivity from the airport to the city, which take a along time. The property is near the airport with large meeting and banquet spaces, restaurants, pools. It is a large complex. The lawns can accommodate 6000 people. These are the milestones we have created in the region, in terms of growing our footprint 100 per cent, growing our pipeline to almost 200 per cent.
In the future, like Jalandhar and Lucknow, will the Tier II/III and tertiary markets be your key locations for growth?
I have always believed in the right partners, and that has worked for me. I have gone where the partner has believed in, whether it is Dehradun, Kasauli, Darjeeling or Kumbhalgarh, Tirupati or Trivandrum, we have just gone with the partners. It is very essential. They are investing crores and crores of money. We see growth potential in these markets. We recently concluded a large deal and we are venturing into religious destinations with that partner.
Can you tell us more about this partnership?
It is a multiple hotel deal for our brand called Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham, and they are focusing to come up in leisure and religious destinations. The first hotel will be in Dwarka. It will be a 160 rooms property.
Pilgrim tourism is such a significant segment. Are there any more locations you are looking to enter?
We are opening a hotel in Jammu (for Vaishno Devi), there will always be a demand in religious locations, not just for the brand but investment perspective. As a group we are never scared to go into a market that others are hesitant to enter – whether it is any city in India or Africa or the Middle East.
You are incharge of the market in many countries, are you following the same policy for expansion at those destinations also?
India is the largest, but now I am also trying to focus more on the neighbourhood. We have strategic partnerships in these countries. I see a huge potential in Nepal, we have an Encore coming up there. I see a huge potential in Bangladesh, we have eight hotels coming up in the country, many in Dhaka, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazaar. Sri Lanka is another country which we are enthusiastic about. I am keen to develop more brands in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, where we have existing properties but look at five-six hotels in these destinations. Then there is Maldives, which is attracting many Chinese travellers and I see upsurge of mid market hotels in that country. We already have RCI affiliated resorts there, which are part of our group.
Looking ahead, what are your expectations from the Indian market?
I am excited that this year, the industry will see an upcycle, the last two years have been stressful. Things will move up in terms of occupancy and rates. India has become transaction friendly, there is investment coming in. We are also keen, given an opportunity we would like to invest in a market like India. Next five-six years will be exciting for us as a company.
As a woman leader in hospitality, what would be your message for those who aim to reach the top of their profession?
It is easily said that do what you believe in, but it is most difficult to implement. As women we have multiple responsibilities, if you are able to believe what you want to do you will be able to manage these responsibilities. That is the most important. If you really believe in something go for it, everything will fall in place.
What is the work culture you have tried to implement in the organisation?
I have killed the tiers. It has to be an environment where everybody is happy to be at the workplace. We all leave our families for 8 to 10 hours to come to office and serve our customers, serve our owners, make sure we are running the organisation in a healthy way. We cannot do it if we are stressed.