STEENA JOY – Bengaluru
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| Rajeev Menon |
Located an hour’s drive from Bengaluru International airport, right in the middle of the city’s IT hub, Whitefield is Marriott Hotel & Resorts’ first property in the city and its 18th in India, the Bengaluru Marriott Hotel Whitefield. Speaking to Express TravelWorld, Rajeev Menon, area vice president – Indian subcontinent, Maldives and Australia, Marriott Interntional Inc said, “ We have been pretty bullish on India. We call ourselves global citizens. We have learnt a lot from this market and we continue to learn from it. Bengaluru is one of the top five markets in India and Whitefield has got the highest number of Fortune 500 companies located here. So it made perfect sense to bring the Marriott brand here.” Commenting on the reasons for the delay in entering this crucial market, Menon explained, “For every project we take up, we work with our developer partners very closely. So getting the right partner is very important. It is only then that we work towards finalising the agreement.”
He added, “We want to become the preferred hotel for the local community. Nothing is more important for the brand than our culture. In the last five years we have figured in the list of ‘Top 10 companies to work for’. We employ a lot of local staff and local vendors and our menus use a lot of locally available food materials. We also roll out CSR initiatives that benefit the local community.”
Training is also a core strength. Menon claimed, “We have a strong in house training programme where we hire local talent, train them and give them global opportunities. In fact, 99 per cent of our hotels are manned by Indian associates.” He agreed that a training academy in partnership with a reputed educational organisation may be a possibility in the future.
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| Mathew Cooper |
The property with 324 keys (including 16 junior suites and one presidential suite) is part of a mixed use project developed by the Raheja family. The Bengaluru Marriott is expected to break even in five to seven years. Mathew Cooper, general manager of the hotel, pointed out, “The hotel’s 650 sq feet pillarless ballroom with a ceiling height of 7.8 m is the largest in Whitefield. The property has a mix of business and leisure amenities. Our USP is the local culture and the people.”
About future growth of the hotel chain, Menon projected, “We already have five of our brands in India – JW Marriott (2), Marriott Hotel & Resorts (5), Renaissance (1), Courtyard by Marriott (9) and Marriott Executive Apartments (1). This year we plan to bring our Fairfield brand to India. We expect the Courtyard by Marriott and Fairfield brands to grow at a faster pace as they can be placed in the secondary and tertiary markets. JW Marriott properties in Delhi and UB City are expected to open this year. Ritz Carlton also expected to open later this year will of course be positioned as the luxury brand.”
While remarking that it is not uncommon to have more than one Marriott hotel in one city, Menon said, “Every hotel we will bring into the country will be positioned to suit that market logistics. A great product for the right price, this should drive growth in any time period.”
Rubbishing the possibility of an oversupply of rooms, he reiterated, “The current situation is a short lived low. If the economy bounces back, India has enough pent up demand for more rooms/hotels. Remember, we build hotels for 30-40 year cycles and not five or 10 year periods.”
