Express Hospitality October 16-31, 2012

I N D I A’ S F O R E M O S T H O S P I TA L I T Y P U B L I C AT I O N October 16-31, 2012 `. 40

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FORTNIGHTLY INSIGHT FOR THE HOSPITALITY TRADE

VOL 8 | NO. 1 | PAGES 58

I N D I A’ S F O R E M O S T H O S P I TA L I T Y P U B L I C AT I O N October 16-31, 2012 ` 40

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FORTNIGHTLY INSIGHT FOR THE HOSPITALITY TRADE

VOL 8 | NO. 1 | PAGES 58

Contents October 16-31, 2012

Vol 8 No.1 October16-31, 2012

Chairman of the Board Viveck Goenka Editor Reema Lokesh* Assistant Editor Steena Joy Associate Editor Sudipta Dev CONTENT TEAM Mumbai Sayoni Bhaduri, Kahini Chakraborty New Delhi Heena Mahajan Kolkata Joy Roy Choudhury Editorial Associates Marcellus Baptista, H A Mishra, Harpal Singh Sokhi, P S Sundar, M S Ram Advisory Board Anil Madhok, Rajeev Chopra, Santosh Shidhaye, Homi Aibara, Param Kannampilly, K V Simon, Jiggs Kalra, Jose Dominic, Raju Shahani, N S Bhuie, Nirmal Khandelwal, Muralidharan Menon, Narendra Verma, Prakash Mankar, M Narayanan MARKETING Deputy General Manager Sachin Shenoy Chief Manager Pankaj Shende Marketing Team Dattaram Kandalkar, Rajan Nair Marketing Coordination Darshana Chauhan Asst.Manager - Scheduling & Coordination Arvind Mane

Six Senses Spa to set up a training centre in India ........................................................................07 Interview with Paul J Kerr, CEO, Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) ...........................................................08 Accor aims to make Formule 1 a game changer in India ........................................................................09 Aapno.com to be first dedicated e-portal for Rajasthan's heritage hotels ...........................................11 The SukhoThai Bangkok to work closely with travel trade in India ......................................................13 Conserving for future: Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) event roundup ..................................................14 CHEF’S PLATTER

Light at the end of the tunnel ..................................27 Innovating for brilliance: Gautam Mehrishi, corporate executive chef, Sun-n-Sand Hotels......................20

CIRCULATION

Lifetime Chef Award 2012 to Paul Bocuse at the Culinary Olympics ..................................21

Mohan Varadakar PRODUCTION General Manager B R Tipnis Production Manager Bhadresh Valia Layout Ratilal Ladani, Kiran Parker Asst. Art Director Surajit Patro Chief Designer Pravin Temble Senior Graphic Designer Rushikesh Konka Photo Editor Sandeep Patil

MANAGEMENT

MARKET

The Indian Express Ltd. All rights reserved throughout the world. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited.

October 16-31, 2012

Bygone grandeur ....................................................29 A unique Keralan odyssey ........................................31 EDGE

Software as an organiser ..........................................33 HIGH SPIRITS LIFE

An interview with Joseph A McInerney, president and CEO, American Hotel and Lodging Association................................35

Express Hospitality Reg.No.MH/MR/SOUTH-44/2010-12 RNI Regn. No.MAHENG/2005/21391.

Published by Vaidehi Thakar on behalf of the Proprietor The Indian Express Limited from Express Towers, 2nd floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021 and Printed by her at the Indian Express Press, at Plot No.EL-208,TTC Industrial Area, Mahape, Navi Mumbai 400 710 (Editorial & Administrative :The Indian Express Ltd, 1st floor, Express Towers, Nariman Point, Mumbai-400021).

Editor Reema Lokesh* (* Responsible for selection of matter under PRB Act) Copyright @ 2011

The MICE momentum..............................................28

The character of Champagne ............. ... ......... ............22 REGULARS

Editor’s Note ..................................................................................................................................................................6 New Kids......................................................................................................................................................................10 Products ......................................................................................................................................................................12 Movements ..................................................................................................................................................................36 Weekend ......................................................................................................................................................................55

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Mighty midgets he mammoth ITC Chola has finally opened its gates for business after long drawn bottlenecks and hurdles in the corridors of bureaucracy. As mentioned in one of our previous stories titled 'Chennai Checkers', this mega hospitality project is predicted to change the business dynamics of the region.

T “Is there a set definite guideline for what a budget hotel means?

Undoubtedly, a global cookie cutter model will not work in India.

Needs and demands of an Indian consumer are extremely different and, often difficult”

Meanwhile, it is a wait and watch game as the Indian hospitality industry is going through its share of evolution and makeover. On one side we have the gentle giants welcoming the world on the other hand we have the mighty midgets who are arguably the lifeline of the Indian hospitality industry - the budget hotels.

Reams have been written especially over the last few years on the vitality and the relevance of the budget brands to the hospitality segment. India needs them for umpteen reasons, for the business traveller, for mass tourism, pilgrim journeys, etc. There are few investors who have got it right and have genuinely made efforts to invest in the sector rightly. They have understood the pulse of the market and worked toward making their brands demand friendly, catering to the essential needs of today's traveller. From construction to completion, this segment does bring in quicker return on investment is what analysts reveal. The tourism departments of various states have announced investment friendly policies to set up more budget brands in their respective regions, of course keeping the demand supply dynamics in mind.

However the segment unlike the luxury category in India is yet to be organised in the true sense of the word. There seems to be a void in the way things are defined. Is there a set definite guideline for what a budget hotel means? There is a huge variation in the product and services that are on offer in the market. Undoubtedly, a global cookie cutter model will not work in India. Needs and demands of an Indian consumer are extremely different and, often difficult. The demand is to receive international services at Indian rates and it is imperative to find the right balance to make the difference. The verdict is out - budget brands have their own space and are here to stay.

Reema Lokesh Editor editorial.eh@expressindia.com

E-mail: 4pdesigno@gmail.com

CHENNAI: Vijay Kulkarni, FORTNIGHTLY INSIGHT FOR THE HOSPITALITY TRADE

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October 16-31, 2012

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T H E B U S I N E S S O F H O S P I TA L I T Y

LEAD STORY

Six Senses Spa to set up a training centre in India HEENA MAHAJAN – New Delhi

Watsu pool, Hammams, a meditation cave. In addition to

Six Senses Signature treatments, the spa menu features

specific therapies including detoxifying, ayurvedic and

energy healing treatments as well as spa retreats.

hailand-based Six Senses Spa is looking at setting up a spa training centre in India. Ana Maria Da Costa Tavares, general manager and

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Ana Maria Tavares managing director, Six Senses Destination Spas informed, “We are planning to develop a spa training centre in India.

The location for the same is yet to be finalised.”

Discussing the company's expansion plan further, Tracey Poole, spa director, Six Senses Spas India informed that the company is also planning to develop Six Senses Spa as a brand in India and has also been approached by a highend residential property developer to manage the spa facility within its premises. “By end of this year, we will be coming up with another hotel in Mumbai and Pune,” she added. She further informed that there is a significant shift in paradigm within the spa sector that redefines luxury as experiential and meaningful.

India is the next big destination for the international spa brands.

Six Senses Spa's first Indian outpost is located at the Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort which opened last year.

Spread over 70,252 sq mtrs, the spa has a fitness centre, a juice bar and Yoga studio, consultation rooms, eleven single treatment rooms and three double treatment rooms, colonic and Ayurvedic rooms, October 16-31, 2012

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M|A|R|K|E|T INTERVIEW

‘India holds the potential to become one of our top source markets worldwide’ Paul J Kerr, CEO, Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) speaks about the huge potential India has both in both supply and demand for the company. By Sayoni Bhaduri How big is India as a market, both as a source market and a destination?

The Indian hospitality sector is booming and we plan to cater to the growing demand in the country. We have seen a 30 per cent increase in reservations from India compared to 2011, although from a relatively small base. As a destination, India continues to see growing demand with the United States leading the way as India’s biggest source market. India is also becoming increasingly popular as a destination amongst Japanese, a 94 per cent increase compared to 2011. Switzerland has seen an 80 per cent increase, Italy with a 71 per cent increase from 2011.

What is SLH's future growth plan for India?

Currently we have 14 properties in India. We are proud that our portfolio in India includes some of the finest small hotels across the country. One of our strengths is the diversity and geographic spread of our hotels – from cutting-edge design hotels to country houses, luxury safari tents and chateaux.

We believe that India holds the potential to become one of our top source markets worldwide within the next five years based on the current growth rate. We want to ensure that we are targeting the best of the best hotels in each destination and so, we have very strict criteria and rigorous inspection programme. We don’t add hotels for the sake of growth – our reputation depends on the quality of each and every hotel in the brand.

Increasing our reach in India will also help us to build awareness of the brand amongst the domestic market – and will showcase the calibre of our properties across the world. Over the next 12 months we are hoping to increase our footprints by adding hotels in key cities including Delhi and Mumbai.

Could you share the key attributes that a hotel should have to become a SLH member. How do member hotels benefit from

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as possible.

Paul Kerr saved the SLH affiliation?

Firstly, the hotel must be the best of the best in the area and independent. It must offer high standards of excellence across all areas of operation. It must reflect its local surroundings and culture – we’re looking for character and charm, not cookie cutter hotels. Perhaps most importantly, the hotel must offer authentic experiences – we are all about small hotels and BIG experiences.

By being part of SLH a hotel’s visibility and profile will be enhanced. Their revenue will be maximised and their independence preserved. There are many advantages of being an SLH members, however one of the most important one to mention is that all SLH hotels get access to over 170,000 Club members globally, who are signed up to our guest loyalty programme.

The Club of Small Luxury Hotels of the World consists of three tiers – Special, Loved and Honoured and is free to join. It offers instant benefits from the members’ very first stay. The more you stay with SLH, the more great benefits you will receive – you can even enjoy complimentary nights. Our hotels can load special Club rates for members and also look at each of our Club member’s data which gives them great insight into people’s travel preferences, special requirements, etc to ensure their stay will be as personalised www.expresshospitality.com

What measures are taken to assure that service standards and quality are always maintained?

SLH has strict quality standard failing which hotels are not conferred with the SLH accreditation. These standards are applied to ensure that only the very best hotels with the highest standards are accepted into the brand, thus ensuring that the quality of the experience that guests receive is consistent across all SLH properties.

Our selection and inspection process is very stringent – only five per cent of the hotels that apply are accepted into the brand. We have a team of mystery inspectors all around the world who visit our hotels every 18 months to ensure standards of excellence are being maintained.

The inspection includes lengthy interviews and comprehensive reporting.

Subsequently, hotels are reviewed by the board of directors and by me before being accepted into the brand.

What makes SLH different from the competition in this space?

What sets us apart are the memorable experiences available at our hotels. The average size of our hotels is 50 rooms and this allows us to offer the highest levels of personalised service. Some of the other hotel brands have an average of 200 rooms at each property so they cannot match this level of service.

As mentioned above, SLH hotels have access to over 170,000 Club Members globally, who are signed up to our guest loyalty programme.

It offers instant benefits from the members’ very first stay.

What are the highlights that distinguish the Indian hospitality scenario in comparison to the world? And where do you see the industry heading in the future?

The great thing about India is that it has a very strong domestic market and yet it has a great internation-

al market so India has double the potential. We have some stunning hotels in India that offer world class service, design, architecture that lead the industry in luxury. I think in some specific cases India is ahead in the luxury market as far as hospitality offerings go.

There are a number of bookings for hotels in Finland, Hong Kong, Singapore, England, Germany, Estonia and Thailand – we have 20 hotels in Thailand. I foresee more boutique hotels in India and China. I don’t see the growth rate being maintained in Europe and US. I think that India, China, Russia and South American markets will be interested in these hotels.

Supply will not keep up with demand so the average rate will increase.

What according to you will be the game changers for the Indian hotel industry in the future and how can the industry gear up to promote development and growth further?

The industry needs to be constantly innovative with their offerings to attract more business. The market is very competitive and innovation is the key which will be the winning differentiator. The world is increasingly becoming more social and mobile and is inhabited by rising numbers of tech-savvy consumers. Social and mobile are not going away so now more than ever travel companies must keep pace with this. Thus, it is now vital that businesses move to mobile optimised site.

Here at SLH, to complement the success of slh.com, we launched a dedicated iPad friendly format to make browsing and booking luxury holidays on the go even easier. The new fast and convenient version of slh.com is compatible with all iPhone, Android, Nokia and Blackberry operating systems. iPhone visits have increased by 172 per cent this week compared to the same time last year and reservations by iPhone are up 225 per cent October 16-31, 2012

M|A|R|K|E|T NEWSTRACK

Accor to make Formule 1 a game changer in India KAHINI CHAKRABORTY - Mumbai

n a country like India where demand for economy and budget hotels remain strong due to significant and consistent growth in domestic travel for both business and leisure, Accor believes that its budget brand Formule 1 will be a definite game changer in India as it matures.

Its budget brand Formule 1 made its debut earlier this year in India in Greater Noida and it will shortly open the second property in Ahmedabad.

Having identified the need to cater to this segment, the company is in the process of developing significant network of hotels in the country. For its expansion plans, the company has invested to date US$ 250 million into India.

Lokesh Sabharwal, vice presidentDevelopment-India, Nepal, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka, Accor told Express Hospitality, “We are adding or have added approximately 2,000 rooms during 2012 to our operating inventory at present, of which approximately 75 per cent are in the economy or budget categories. Our budget brand Formule 1 is the first international budget hotel in the country that will fill the void for stan-

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Lokesh Sabharwal dardised rooms at a competitive pricing. It presents a fresh approach to low-cost Indian accommodation. We believe that this product will be a definite game changer in India as it matures. We also believe that our ibis hotels in India have a broad appeal to a wide range of people and are exactly what both domestic and international travellers in the country need and want the most.”

As India is a core growth market

for Accor, apart from laying emphasis on mid and economy sector, the company is also expanding in the upscale segments. Accor sees a definite potential to develop hotels under the MGallery brand with its partners in future. With 18 hotels currently operational and the introduction of three new brands in 2012, the company foresees a huge growth prospect.

Although Sabharwal did not divulge details on the new management contracts that the company is committed to, he said, “We have committed agreements for new hotels in Chennai, Hyderabad, Goa, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Nasik, Tiruchirappalli, Dhaka and Chittagong (Bangladesh) across our various brands. We continue to look at all metropolitan, tier I, tier II and selectively tier III markets – state capitals, key commercial and leisure centres and cities where we see new hubs emerging and growth. Having a portfolio of brands from luxury to budget allows us to tailor the right product and brand to cater to our customers, both today and tomorrow and ensure the right product to support our partners and ensure the projects and investments they are making are viable.”

Sterling Holidays Resorts (India) grows non member business SAYONI BHADURI - Mumbai

acation ownership company Sterling Holidays Resorts (India) is now also looking at growing its non-member business.

“It is a conscious effort to strengthen the non-member segment,” said Ramesh Ramanathan, managing director, Sterling Holidays Resorts (India), “there is a huge market and we are working with the trade and MICE for this.” He further added that while the members are the mainstay and that is the long

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The company is also looking at opening resorts in new locations – Daman, Dharamshala and Sariska – in the next 2 to 3 months October 16-31, 2012

Ramesh Ramanathan term plan, but the non-member business is a great way to introduce Sterling to the market and also generate member business for the future. The member and non member business is at a ration of 70:30.

The business for Sterling Holidays Resorts (India) has seen good growth, said Ramanathan. In the quarter ending June 30, 2012,

the company recorded income from sales of vacation ownership plans increasing by 250 per cent from`45 million in the previous year to `158 million. The quarterly total operating income of the company was reported as `317 million, as compared to `185 million for the same period of the previous fiscal, representing a 71 per cent growth.

The company declared an EBITDA of `10.80 million, reflecting the positive growth trend. “Our revenues have seen an increase with the increase in our members and change in our style of services as well,” he added. Currently, Sterling Holidays Resorts (India) has 75,000 members.

The company is also looking at opening resorts in new locations – Daman, Dharamshala and Sariska – in the coming two to three months.

“Our resorts have been designed keeping a family in mind. A family is not made of one individual, but of different people with different requirements,” said Ramanathan.

He further added that the resorts therefore offer vast array of activities to cater to these varied requirements.

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M|A|R|K|E|T QUICK BYTES

New kids on the block Park Hyatt Chennai

DesertScape Resort, Jodhpur

Hyatt Hotels Corporation recently opened the Park Hyatt Chennai, marking the 30th hotel in the Park Hyatt collection and the first Park Hyatt hotel to be introduced in the city of Chennai. The hotel features 201 luxury guestrooms, including 20 indulgent suites. Rich travertine marble floors and plush handtufted rugs are luxuries found in every guestroom, along with polished marble bathrooms with deep-soak bathtubs. In addition, all suites feature exquisite, relaxing stone plunge tubs.

Clarks Inn, Lucknow Clarks Inn Group of Hotels has announced the opening of fully operational The Continental Lucknow, its first hotel property in the city of Nawabs. The Continental Lucknow offers 44 well-appointed guestrooms equipped with modern day facilities. The 24-hour in-room dining, contemporary ambience, in room mini-bar, banquets for specific requirements and seamless Wi-Fi connectivity on the premises will cater to all the needs of modern-day business travellers.

Other facilities in the hotel include a health club, travel desk, inhouse bakery, florist, e t c .

The hotel also offers state-of-the-art banqueting facilities that can accommodate up to 300 guests. Besides, it can also organise r o o f t o p barbeque.

Concept Hospitality has announced the signing of a management agreement for the DesertScape Resort, Jodhpur. Situated in the Prescon City, Mogra, the resort has expansive lawns and state-of-the-art meeting facilities, for weddings and MICE events. 21 new rooms will be added shortly, which will take the total inventory to 48 luxury accommodation units, a full service spa and a multicuisine restaurant. The resort is owned

by KDJ HolidayScapes.

Ramada Udaipur Resort & Spa As part of the agreement signed early this year, Wyndham Hotels and Unique Global Group recently opened their first hotel in the joint venture – Ramada Udaipur Resort & Spa. All rooms of the resort come replete with their own private sit out. The resort offers three types of rooms: Premier, Deluxe and Suites. The resort has been built using Tikri stones available

locally. The property has three F&B outlets: Myra the multi - cuisine restaurant, Zuma an Indian specialty restaurant, and Liquid Lounge, the bar. For events, the hotel has Summit Hall (250 pax), Monsoon Deck (800 pax) and Rock Garden (500 pax) offering banqueting facilities.

INTERNATIONAL The Imperial Mansion, Beijing - Marriott Executive Apartments Marriott International announced the opening of the 220-apartment The Imperial Mansion, Beijing - Marriott Executive Apartments. The property offers 220 studio, one-, two- and threebedroom apartments ranging from 64 to 228 square meters.

Additional amenities at the apartments include a multifunctional meeting space with natural daylight measuring a combined total of 180 square meters. This is Marriott International’s fifth extended stay property in China. Ideally located in the center of Wangfujing district of Beijing, The Imperial Mansion, Beijing MEA Apartments is a few minutes’ walk from the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and Wangfujing subway station, offering easy accessible to business, commercial and cultural attractions.

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October 16-31, 2012

M|A|R|K|E|T NEWSTRACK

Aapno.com to be first dedicated e-portal for Rajasthan's heritage hotels HEENA MAHAJAN - New Delhi

apno.com is set to become the first dedicated e-portal booking for Rajasthan's 150 heritage properties in November this year. As per sources, the e-portal will be launched at World Travel Mart London this year, wherein the company can utilise the international platform to promote itself.

Talking to Express Hospitality on the idea behind launching the portal, Gaurav Ghosh, owner, Aapno.com said, “These properties are also members of Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) in Rajasthan. As it is almost impossible to book any of

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also a whole new spectrum of properties — young refurbished garhs and havelis that are looking for support and new clientele,” informed Ghosh.

The company is looking

at targeting markets like China, Taiwan internationally and Mumbai and Delhi in India. Speaking on the plans to involve other heritage properties from states like Gujarat, Goa and many oth-

ers, Ghosh said, “Rajasthan is such a vast market in itself that we are currently focusing on this state only.

Connectivity has always been an issue here especially in places like Jaisalmer,

Jodhpur, and others where many heritage properties lie unexplored. Our main focus would be to draw as many tourists as we can to these properties and make them accessible to the world.”

We will be launching an e-shop where one would be able to shop for regional state craft in Rajasthan. We are trying to provide these heritage hotels call centre support these properties in Rajasthan yourself, either you need to go through a travel agent looking after the property or call at the boardline which is not feasible or available all the time.

Hence we came up with this idea where this portal as a one stop shop.”

“Besides this, we will also provide wedding, MICE, medical conferences, and other packages. Soon we will be launching an eshop where one would be able to shop for regional state craft available in the state of Rajasthan. Basically, we are trying to provide these heritage hotels call centre support and marketing, which their budget does not allow. And, there are October 16-31, 2012

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M|A|R|K|E|T

Hush Ultra Soft Duvet

colourful, vibrant bottles will be distributed worldwide.

Johnnie Walker Hush has introduced Hush Ultra Soft Duvet. This machine washable duvet has a slow-release fibre filling, with specially treated fabric encasing, and lavender piping all around. Its standard size consists of 100”x90” and 90”x60” and it is machine filled Virgin Grade Micro Fibre, 200 GSM and the outer fabric is made of micro polyester fabric treated for a soft finish.

Calia Italia Red sofas from Living in Style Living in Style has introduced exclusive range of contemporary and classic sofa sets in deep shades of red.

Johnnie Walker has introduced a festive range which includes blends that are iconic – the Red Label, the Black Label, the Gold Label Reserve and the Blue Label.

Honeylite from BrBee Products

Imported from Calia Italia, this collection consists of sofa, sofa-beds. The sofa frames are made of completely nontoxic wood and have achieved performance qualities to guarantee endurance and durability in the course of time.

The sofa padding is that of ecologic polyurethane foam and the finest quality Italian leather used is tanned and refined through artisan techniques that keep the original grain unaltered.

ABSOLUT VODKA ABSOLUT VODKA has introduced ABSOLUT UNIQUE – a limited edition of nearly four million uniquely designed and individually numbered bottles. To make every bottle become a one-of-a-kind work of art, ABSOLUT had to re-engineer the entire production process. The

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BrBee Products has introduced Unique Monofloral Honey under the brand name Honeylite. Honeylite is extracted primarily from the nectar of one plant species. This honey is being extracted from the ‘super’ chamber only when fully sealed and passed through a simple muslin cloth at room temperature, and is left at that; unfiltered. It is 100 per cent natural and has no preservatives or added sugar.

Honeylite is unblended honey which is free from antibiotics and heavy metals with no micro-filtration done. It will be available in five variants - Himalayan Acacia Honey, Himalayan Thyme, Himalayan Forest Honey, Blackberry Honey and Lychee Honey.

October 16-31, 2012

M|A|R|K|E|T NEWSTRACK

The SukhoThai Bangkok to work closely with travel trade in India KAHINI CHAKRABORTY - Mumbai

ith an aim to increase its market presence in India, The SukhoThai Bangkok, a luxury five-star hotel property in Bangkok, Thailand, is looking at renewing partnerships in the Indian market. The senior level management team of the hotel were recently in Delhi and Mumbai to further initiate talks with the trade. Talking to Express Hospitality, Gregory Meadows, general manager, The SukhoThai Bangkok said, “Ours is a 21 year old independent hotel brand which is well estab-

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clientele currently comprises of 50 per cent corporate and 50 per cent leisure. We are looking at high-end luxury travellers from the Indian market and are looking at renewing partnerships with the travel trade in the country. Apart

from this, we will leverage our relationship with the Leading Hotels of the World, which we are an affiliate of.” The hotel management also wants to focus on the Indian wedding market.

Meadows added, “During

our discussions with the travel trade we have got valuable feedback which has helped us to better understand the India market. Currently 30 per cent of our business is from Japanese travellers and we are looking at gaining a

similar share from the India market in the future. Our source markets include UK, US, Japan, South East Asia and for the emerging markets - India and China, we will be working extensively to create visibility for our brand.”

Currently 30 per cent of our business is from Japanese travellers and we are looking at gaining a similar share from the India market in the future lished. As India is an emerging potential market for us, we felt we could develop this market and hence are committed to working closely with the travel trade in India.

In order to highlight our presence in the country, we recently appointed QUO as our public relation and travel trade campaign coordinator in India.”

Spread over six acres of area, the hotel offers 210 rooms (including 100 suites) with all modern facilities, and high level of service. Vanessa Williams, executive assistant manager-sales and marketing, The SukhoThai Bangkok added, “We are aware of the potential of the Indian market and hence are looking at targeting all segments of travellers. With MICE segment holding great opportunity, our October 16-31, 2012

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M|A|R|K|E|T IN THE NEWS

Conserving for future With the aim to put Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) in the limelight, and take heritage tourism to the masses, the first annual convention witnessed participation of 65 owners as well as tour operator from across the country. By Heena Mahajan

ndian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) was formed in 1990 and it is a known fact that heritage hotels have successfully given a new dimension to world tourism. The first annual convention of the association, supported by Incredible India, a Government of India campaign was held in Sawai Madhopur, Ranthambore on

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September 21-22, 2012 along with the 11th annual general meeting. The focus of the convention was on the role of rural and natural heritage in tourism development.

As many as 64 heritage properties were represented from different chapters of IHHA. The convention opened with Rakesh Srivastava, principal secretary tourism, Rajasthan

Points that need attention Roads ● Air connectivity (more air stripes) ● An additional cess that has been imposed on the hotels in Ranthambore itself which were already existing

Statewise IHHA membership

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Assam Goa Gujarat HaryanaHimachal PradeshJ&K Karnataka Kerala MaharashtraMadhya PradeshPuducherryRajasthan Sikkim Tamil NaduUttaranchalUttar PradeshWest BengalTOTAL

01 01 02 01 05 01 01 15 03 04 01 131 01 03 03 04 02 179

Classified Operating Hotels (non-classified) At Project/Planning stage

78 90 11 www.expresshospitality.com

elaborating on the focus of the convention and stressed on the fact that heritage hotels have long been responsible to curb migration from the rural areas to cities and it is high time that the government realises the importance of giving quality services and infrastructure to the staff and these hotels.

He said that the state government can and should play an active role in promotion of heritage tourism citing examples of Kerala and, more recently Gujarat. This was followed by the presidential address by Gaj Singh, president, IHHA informing the audience that IHHA has as many as 179 members with increasing number of properties becoming a part of the fraternity. “In the past two decades heritage hotels have been able to promote development of rural areas in which they are located. It would not be out of place to state with conviction that hotels have generated substantial economic activities and created jobs for rural youths. Needless to say that these properties have also been an important source of foreign exchange earnings in the otherwise backward regions. Availability of quality power was yet another area where heritage properties would get a tremendous boost,” said Gaj Singh.

Bina Kak, minister of tourism, Rajasthan inaugurated the exhibition on the occasion. She also released the IHHA Guide Book which

provides details of the heritage hotels. Later, the general manager of Hotel Jaipur Ashok spoke on Generation of Employment Through Skill Development (Hunar Se Rozgar). It was followed by 'Campaign Clean India'

by TW Sudhakar, director, India Tourism.

Brainstorming The session on promotion of rural heritage and rural development brought to light the fact that tourism is an economic driver and an employment generator, and in a vast country with multi-dimensional tourist attractions at different places, substantial efforts are required to be made by the central and state governments to attract tourists.

The session stressed on the concept of the association to preserve heritage properties from decay. Better connectivity, more air strips and abolishing multiple taxes is the need of the hour. “Most of these properties are owner driven, and this way it becomes quite difficult for us to maintain them. We appeal to the government to provide better infrastructure and quality services in the state of Rajasthan so that we can lure more tourists — both inbound and domestic,” said Gajendra Singh, Khimsar. Gaj Singh highlighted, “Its time that we have our own heritage mart soon, we are already in talks with the state government.”

The panel discussion on October 16-31, 2012

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the role of natural heritage tourism for sustainable wildlife conservation brought to light the need to

October 16-31, 2012

conserve natural heritage.

Rajasthan is a state that has earned large chunk of revenues out of its vast natural

heritage. The resources are being over utilised.

Speaking exclusively to Express Hospitality, Suhail

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Gupta, CEO, &Beyond India, who was also one of the panelists said, “Everywhere we have

responsible tour operators.

There is a need to come up with a master plan so that while saving on the operational costs of these lodges, we can also work on maintaining a discipline around these areas.” Balendu Singh, owner, Devvilas stressed on the need to revive religious tourism and take it to another level. “Every community in Rajasthan has its own traditions, and if we mix it up with tourism we can conserve not only our parks and the tigers, but also the vast expanse of wildlife in these areas.” Speaking on the recent ban on tiger tourism in the core areas and how South India coped with it, KK Singh, one of the panelists said, “Kerala, as an example, strategically declared their new buffer and core areas before the amendment was announced.

Rajasthan realised it pretty late and that how it is by far, the most affected state.” The sessions concluded with the association's plans to work together as one entity and start a movement to encourage responsible heritage tourism.

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M|A|R|K|E|T NEWSTRACK

Sun n Sand Mumbai to celebrate its Golden Jubilee this November EH STAFF - Mumbai

un n Sand will be celebrating it Golden Jubilee on November 24, 2012 on the successful completion of 50 years. Over the last fifty years the hotel has served top end clientele ranging from corporate to individual travellers, airline crews and Bollywood and Hollywood stars.

As per the company release, commissioned in 1962, Sun n Sand was Mumbai’s first beach front five-star property and over the years has successfully expanded its presence in other cities which include Pune, Nagpur and Shirdi.

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Speaking on the occasion, Gulshan Arora, senior vice president, Sun n Sand Mumbai said, “This has been a long journey for us and I would like to congratulate our employees and patrons who have helped us

achieve this milestone. We will be celebrating the fiftieth year with a grand party at our Mumbai property along with special offers across all our other properties in India.”

The Mumbai property

opened its doors to the newly renovated lounge bar, The Beachcomber. The lounge bar offers a new F&B menu, where the cocktails have been redesigned by Dre Masso, a UK based bar consultant.

ITDC achieves record profits in 2011-12

EH STAFF - New Delhi

ndia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) recently conducted its 47th annual general meeting at the Group’s flagship hotel, The Ashok, New Delhi. The Corporation closed the year with an all round increase in the performance as compared to the previous financial year. The turnover of the Corporation has increased from `392.36 crore to `423.06 crore registering an increase of 7.82 per cent.

After suffering losses in the past two consecutive years ie in 2009-10 and 201011, ITDC has earned profits.

Against a loss of `11.73 crore

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(before tax) during 2010-11 and a loss of `20.51 (before tax) during 2009-10, the Corporation has earned a profit of `22.02 crore (before tax).

Due to operational losses during 2009-10 and 2010-11, ITDC could not distribute dividend to its shareholders.

However, as during the year 2011-12 there has been a profit, dividend is declared for distribution to the shareholders. ITDC is determined to perform even better in the coming years both in terms of profitability and in the turnover besides improving the operational efficiency.

This is being said on the basis of the fact that ITDC is making efforts in not only the www.expresshospitality.com

existing verticals of its business but is also trying to venture into new areas. Efforts are also being made to upgrade the existing properties and also to explore the possibilities of attracting private investments in the areas of additional product development under public private partnership mode.

The ministry of Tourism has also reposed its renewed confidence by awarding various infrastructure projects for execution by ITDC. As a part of its corporate social responsibility, the Corporation has been the implementation arm of the ministry of Tourism in its efforts for 'Campaign Clean India' project and also providing training to thou-

sands of unemployed youth under 'Hunar Se Rozgar' initiative of the ministry of Tourism. Significant initiatives undertaken during the year, include upgradation of hotels, mounting of sound and light shows in the country, entering into non-hotel sectors like hospitality education, international tourism and travel related events management and providing job skills and employment opportunities to the country’s unemployed youth as well as signing MoUs targeted towards tourism promotion as well as sourcing in additional business, forward the determination to perform even better in the coming years.

October 16-31, 2012

Event Tracker Hospitality Trade Shows in 2012-13 Date

Event

Venue

October 17-19, 2012

ITB Asia

Singapore

October 18–21, 2012

Gourmets & Vins – Paris

Paris (France)

October 25–28, 2012

Wine, Food & Good Living

Helsinki (Finland)

Oct 31 – Nov 1, 2012

International Forum of Winemakers and Oenologists

Odessa (Ukraine)

Oct 31 – Nov 4, 2012

Expo Drink & Wine

Bucharest (Romania)

November 1- 3, 2012

Oishii Japan

Las Vegas, NV (USA)

November 1 – 4, 2012

AAGE - Expo d'Autunno

Biella (Italy)

November 5-8, 2012

World Travel Market

London

November 6-8, 2012

Drink Technology India

Mumbai

November 7–11, 2012

Ottawa Wine & Food Show

Ottawa (Canada)

November 8–10, 2012

Wine Card

Moscow

November 8–10, 2012

La Grande Dégustation de Montréal

Montreal

November 9-11, 2012

The Good Food & Wine Show

Brisbane

November 14-16, 2012

Interwine China

Guangzhou (China)

November 21 – 24, 2012

Bakery Indonesia

Jakarta

November 21 – 24, 2012

Food Ingredients Indonesia

Jakarta

November 22 – 25, 2012

Hotelia

Thessaloniki (Greece)

November 22–25, 2012

Gourmets & Vins – Bruxelles

Brussels (Belgium)

November 23–26, 2012

Taipei International Tea & Coffee Expo

Taiwan

November 23 – 26, 2012

Taiwan International Best Food Products & Equipment Fair

Taipei

November 23 – 26, 2012

Taipei International Wine Expo

Taipei

November 27–29, 2012

Vinitech

Bordeaux

November 2012

Tea Expo Guangzhou

Guangzhou (China)

November 2012

Enovit

Lisbon

December 3 – 5, 2012

Food & Hotel Oman

Muscat

December 4 – 6, 2012

DDTE Dubai Drink Technology Expo

Dubai

December 14 – 17, 2012 Gluten Free Expo

Brescia (Italy)

January 2013 Food Hospitality World

Mumbai

January 2013

Budapest

January 15–17, 2013

Viticulture & Viniculture Sival

Angers (France)

June 6-15, 2013

Sweet Eurasia

Istanbul

June 25 – 28, 2013

Fispal Cafe

São Paulo (Brazil)

August 15 – 17, 2013

Hong Kong International Tea Fair

Hong Kong

September 8 – 10, 2013

Speciality Chocolate Fair

London

October 16-31, 2012

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Cleaning & Hygiene Solutions Stain identification and treatment Navin Sethi explains how to identify stains on textiles and suggests tips on how laundry departments can remove them

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early all fibres can be identified by appropriate tests.

However, it is not possible for the launderer to apply all the methods.

The principle methods of classifying fibres according to their raw materials are listed below. The exact scientific testing of textiles materials is usually a matter for laboratories with their appropriate technical equipments.

Test by burn

Cellulose fibres: Light lively flame burns quickly with glow point, cotton, flax, rayon, pungent smell of burnt paper, fly-ash.

White of egg fibres : Burns reluctantly, flame inclined to go out, the small fibre crinkles under the heat and forms small lumps. The cooled residue is lumpy and can be rubbed between the fingers to a sandy mass.

Mineral fibres (asbestoses): Do not burn Acetates: Burns similar to cellulose but more slowly, with acid smell and crusty residue.

Polyamide: Nylon, perlon etc. Burns very reluctantly, but melts and drips; ball shaped residue which is firmly connected with fibre.

Polyester: Burns reluctantly, melts and drips a somewhat flickering flame

with little smoke. Residue like polyamide.

Stain identification

Three criteria assist in identifying the most commonly known types of stains and classify them accordingly.

1. Type of edge 2. Feel 3. Colour.

Type of edge

We distinguish between strong, clearly defined edges of the stains and less clearly defined stains area, which merge with the fabric. The type of edge is typical in case of the following stains.

The following stains have sharp and dark edge ● Blood stains ● Starch stains ● White of egg stains ● Varnish ● Oil paints ● Glue.

All stains cannot be recognised by the appearance of the edge.

Feel

Here we distinguish between hard and soft stains.

Hard stains are caused by 1. Varnish 2. oil paints 3. glues Stains, which are less hard but can be described as stiff, are stains containing albumin.

A further of a stain containing albumin is the fact that when rubbing it against a hard object (finger nails)

the stain pulverises and thereby becomes lighter and sometimes vanishes altogether.

Colour

Yellow/brown stains: rust, coffee tea tannin tobacco juice, banana, sugar, suntan emulsion, urine, perfume, burns and scorches, blood.

Blue stains: Water colour, ink, ball point pen ink, dyes.

Green stains: Grass, water colours, ink, ballpoint ink, dyes.

Red stains: Water colour, ink, lipsticks, nail varnish, hair dyes.

Stain removal tips Removing stains from textiles is one of the most difficult tasks of the laundry industry. We give below some tips on how to remove the most common types of stains Stains Alkali Banana, beery, fruits, grass Cement Chocolate, cocoa, coffee, cola drink, tea Ice cream, milk cream, beer Ink Iodine, medicines, blood, meat juice Mustard Nail varnish Red Wine Rust Silver nitrate Tobacco juice Urine Varnish Water colour

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Identification White, yellow, dull and slightly faded wool and silk damage Yellowish to brown, sometimes greenish, no distinctive appearance Grey spread on, hard Brown stain usually spread Various colour, always well defined outline, absorbed Various colour, no clearly defined outline absorbed Yellow or brown, clearly defined ring Yellow to brown, spread, distinctive smell Generally red or pearl gloss, hard and brittle Red to reddish brown Reddish brown usually absorbed Pale grey to black absorbed Yellow to brown, distinctive smell Yellow to brown, distinctive smell Frequently clearly defined ring, harden Various colour, not much absorbed as ink

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Removal Rinse in water using a neutraliser Rinse, soap, tannin remover if possible bleaching Formic acid Rinse, soap, ammonia, enzyme spot remover Rinse, soap, ammonia, enzyme remover, tannin remover Soap, spirit (hot), sodium per borate bleaching agent Nearly impossible, soap, spirit, tannin remover, H2O2 bleach, sulphuric acid, potassium permanganate Rinse, soap, tannin remover Amyl acetate, subsequently dry cleaning Rinse, soap, sulphuric acid, tannin remover Rust remover Soap, tincture of iodine, subsequently sodium thio -sulfate and ammonia Soap, formic acid, tannin remover, bleaching as a last resource Rinse with water, soap, ammonia, sodium per borate Paint remover solvent Soap, ammonia, hot spirit, dye solvent (mixture of pyridine).

October 16-31,2012

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Group reaction for identification of fibres Type of Fibre

Test

Reactions

Wool, Silk, Protein fibres Acetate Tri Acetate Polyamide Polyester Polyacrylonitrile Polyvinylchloride Regenerated cellulose fibres Cotton

5% caustic soda sol Acetone Methylene chloride Glacial acetic acid Nitrobenzene Dimenthly formaide Dioxane 80:20 of formic acid and zinc chloride Con. sulphuric acid

Complete dissolve after boiling Dissolves in cold Dissolves in cold Dissolves after brief boiling Usually dissolves after long boiling Dissolves when boiling After being immersed for some time cold swells Dissolves after 3 hrs immersion at 400C Turns dark brown in cold acid

spotting chemical on the outer edge of the stained area and treat the stain.

Then rinse the spotted surface several times by forming a ring. Work the edge towards the center when drying with compressed air, i.e begin with blowing at the outer zone and gradually shifting liquid towards the centre.

(The author is senior application specialist – Laundry & Kitchen, Diversey India Pvt.Ltd.)

Stains removing procedure Application of spotting chemicals

Spotting chemicals should be applied by means of a small plastic bottle with a long necked nozzle. Every endeavor should be made to keep the area to be spotted as confined as possible.

Effect of steam

Steam from a steam gun serves to heat the chemicals in order to increase their effectiveness. The steam gun must be always be handled with great care as the high steam pressure can damage the fabric or effect the surface properties, dyes, and thermoplastic fibre can

be irretrievably altered. A distance of 3 to 4 inch has to be maintained between fabric surface and steam gun nozzle. An exception can be granted for very hard surface.

Rinsing of stained surface after stain removers

Rinsing off the stain treated spot is very essential, making stain invisible is not sufficient, it can reappear, while doing the pressing or ironing, this spot should be rinsed thoroughly several times so that all the chemicals are removed from the surface.

Formation of spotting rings Always apply the

October 16-31,2012

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SPECIAL FEATURE

TOP TOQUE

Innovating for brilliance With the changing perceptions of a chef's job profile - from a back end role to that of an entrepreneur - Gautam Mehrishi, corporate executive chef, Sun-n-Sand Hotels talks about how hard work and practice is important to stand out and avoid the constant pressure of duplication. By Kahini Chakraborty

Gautam Mehrishi n today's scenario there is a constant pressure of duplication. Earlier resources were limited, hotels had the monopoly, their restaurants had monopoly and so the dishes served were one's USP. A particular recipe may be innovative for us, but then it might have already been done by someone else. Our test is to stand out especially now when people are more consci-

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entious in terms of health, variety, newness, hygiene etc,” emphasises Gautam Mehrishi, corporate executive chef, Sun-n-Sand Hotels.

Chef Mehrishi started his career with The Taj Mahal Mumbai in 1995 as a hotel management trainee. Prior to joining Sun-n-Sand, he worked for The Claridges Hotel, New Delhi where he was instrumental in the rebranding and re-positioning of www.expresshospitality.com

various restaurants in the hotel. At Sun-n-Sand he oversees the performance and operations of all the F&B outlets located in Mumbai, Pune, Shridi and Nagpur including The Jewel of India at Worli, Mumbai. He has introduced new concepts and menus through his analytical and strategic approach. He led the team during conceptualisation, designing and SOP development of the F&B outlets in

the newly opened Sun-n-Sand Nagpur. The thought of relaunching Aqua, the 24 hour coffee shop at Sun-n-Sand Mumbai is the brainchild of chef Mehrishi who has worked extensively on the new menu which offers a selection of international, Indian and Asian flavours, presented in a contemporary style.

What inspired him to don the chef's hat? Chef Mehrishi replies, “Seeing my grandmother cooking at home, and discussions on food, the ingredients, spices, etc, all piqued my interest in becoming a chef. The journey so far has been fantastic and every moment has been a learning experience for me. One has to be a good person to bring out a great chef in you. It's true when they say, to get the best taste in the food, one must cook from his heart.”

On the current scenario in the hospitality industry, the chef opines, “The hotel industry is booming. It focusses more on image building not only nationally but also on the international front. The hotels are more personalised and attuned to their guests' interest as a whole and even individually.”

While on the popularity of cuisine among Indian customers, he adds, “In cuisines, Spanish is picking up.

Consumption of coffee has increased rapidly so has the consumption of chocolates, especially imported chocolates. The chef is consulting for a Spanish brand of Chocolateria, San Churro. As for his signature style of cooking, chef Mehrishi believes in simplicity and using fresh October 16-31, 2012

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ingredients, seasonal fruits, spices, vegetables, etc. It is this quality along with his culinary skills which has helped him achieve success.

The chef has hosted various shows on national television

which include Naram Garam on Sahara One, Smart Srimati ki Rasoi on DD1, Kitchen Maharishi on 9X and Kitchen Champion on Colors amongst others. Elaborating on the emerging trends seen in the F&B

Rapid fire Favourite cuisine: Rajasthani Hobbies: Nature photography, biking, collecting gadgets Favourite restaurant: Wagamama- London Favourite book: A Day At El Bulli-Ferran Adria'

space, chef Mehrishi says, “The industry is growing by leaps and bounds. Every now and then, there is a new science in food.

The innovation in recipes, the ingredients, the way of serving, a new experience is what we seek to provide our guests. And about the changing perspective of a chef's job, I think first it was like a back office job. Now a chef is an entrepreneur. He is a jewel of the hotel, but to become a jewel, one needs to get polished. Hard work is important along with practice and creativity.”

Lifetime Chef Award 2012 to Paul Bocuse at the Culinary Olympics Photo: Jarle Vines Creative Commons Attribution Sharealike 3.0

VKD honours the chef of the century from Lyon at the Culinary Olympics

is job is both his calling and his lifeblood," stated Robert Oppeneder, president of the German Chefs Association (VKD). It was therefore quickly decided upon to award the Lifetime Chef Award 2012 to Paul Bocuse, master of the culinary arts, at the IKA Culinary Olympics in Erfurt.

Since the 86-year old maître only leaves his home under exceptional circumstances, a small

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October 16-31, 2012

VKD delegation travelled to Lyon in the summer and honoured Bocuse at his headquarters, the restaurant L'Auberge du Pont de Collognes. In attendance was Bocuse's student and VKD member Eckart Witzigmann, who was impressed that his teacher and role model Bocuse was still intensively taking part in cooking events.

Chef of the century, Bocuse, who has held three Michelin stars since 1965, said his thanks amidst the enthusiasm of some 1,000 guests at the opening ceremony of the 23rd annual IKA Culinary Olympics. Bocuse was very pleased with his award and wished all chefs the best of luck in the Culinary Olympics.

"This award reflects the respect and appreciation that our 12,000 VKD members have for the French master chef," said Oppeneder in his congratulatory speech. "Generations of chefs can draw inspiration from Bocuse's work, and for that we are grateful."

The highest award presented by the German Chefs Association (VKD), is awarded every four years at the IKA Culinary Olympics. In 2008, the first glass trophy went to VKD honorary president Joseph König.

Traditionally, the IKA Culinary Olympics opens the evening before competitions begin, with the parade of nations, a show, and the lighting of the culinary fire. 54 nations and around 2,000 chefs took part in the world's biggest cooking event in Erfurt this year. www.expresshospitality.com

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SPECIAL FEATURE WINE CELLAR

The character of Champagne The region of Champagne and the sparkling wines of the region have a history that winemakers and growers are fiercely proud of. And Comite Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne acts as the vanguard for their interests and under its tutelage the region is growing stronger by the day. By Sayoni Bhaduri

he most celebrated sparkling wine, Champagne is more than a celebratory drink. With a history of more than 300 years, Champagne is part of life for people in the region. The

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Champagne Cattier in India After the success of Armand de Brignac, the House of Cattier is now preparing to introduce Champagne Cattier in India. The introductory cuvees – Cattier Brut Icone and Cattier Brut Rosé 1er cru – will be available from December in the cities of Delhi, Punjab, Goa, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata. Philippe Bienvenu, commercial director of Champagne Cattier said, “We have granted the distribution for India, Sri Lanka and Nepal to a company called Global Brands run by Rahul Kashyap. They have an office in Noida.” The strategy is to appoint distributors in different states in India.

Initial sales for year one is estimated at 1000 cases.

Confident of both their brands, Bienvenu assures of no confusion, “Both brands have complete different positioning with Armand de Brignac being an ultra premium and luxury brand and therefore, it doesn’t interfere with Cattier in terms of image and distribution. There is a very interesting synergy between both brands.” He also hopes to be one of the top 10 Champagne brands in five years and perceived as a high quality and distinctive champagne. Currently, Armand de Brignac Brut Gold and Rose are available in India.

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region, according to Comite Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne (CIVC), has 34,000 hectares under Champagne grape vines.

These are divided into 280,000 plots with 15,000 growers, 135 cooperatives, 280 Champagne houses. They employ 10,000 people who produce 323 million of bottles annually and accrue a turnover of Euro 4.4 billion. It was in 1927 that the law was passed defining the zone of Champagne production and demarcating the boundaries of Champagne. Philippe Wibrotte, responsible des relations publiques of CIVC explains, “There are 15,000 growers in the region who own almost 90 per cent of the land as well. The share of land is often as less as two hectares.” This is so since the land gets divided every generation. The terroir is unique because of the weather, soil composition which is primarily limestone/chalk and the slopes of the land. “The gradient of the slope can vary between 12 to 59 per cent,” says Wibrotte.

CIVC was set up in 1941, as a semi-

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public organisation headed by two chairmen – one from growers and one from the Champagne houses. Apart from promotion and safeguarding brand Champagne in the world, CIVC is also responsible for data collection across the region on both the harvests and wines. A grower or a winery has to compulsory be part of CIVC to undertake any activity. CIVC also issues certificate of origins to the wines going out to as many as 190 countries. CIVC is fully equipped with technicians with two experimental vineyards, presses, labs and vinification equipments. They are also the first to conduct a carbon footprint analysis. In early 2000s, based on the environmental impact analysis areas were selected for action – preservation and enhancement of terroir, biodiversity and landscapes; accountable management of water, effluents, byproducts and waste. One of their successes has been the reduction of the weight of the bottle by 75 gms as it helped reduce from the 30 per cent of the carbon emission caused due to just October 16-31, 2012

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the packaging. CIVC currently has 14 bureaus globally, the latest is in Brazil.

The biggest initiative is to help the classification of Champagne region in UNESCO's World Heritage Sites list for its cultural landscape. The cultural landscape that Champagne boasts of is centuries of vine-growing, giving birth October 16-31, 2012

to a unique type of wine that is the envy of the world.

The self imposed rules are strict and are respected by both growers and wine producers in the region. Grapes collected from four core areas – Cote de Blancs, Cote des bar, Montagne de Reims and Vallée de la Marne – in the region.

The most popular grapes for the wines here are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier. Apart from these other approved grape varietals include Arbanne, Petit Meslier, Pinot blanc and Pinot gris; these however are less than 0.3 per cent of plantings. When compared to an extremely nascent Indian wine industry, these rules can seem stifling.

Antoine Roland Billecart, deputy CEO of Billicart-Salmon explains, “For the French wine industry it is important to maintain what we have because we cannot compete with other countries and new technology. Chardonnay, for instance, is one of the most popular grape varietal. It is important that the traditional image that has been established over a period of time. That it is not to say that you are not allowed to be more high tech in your materials and processes. The aim is to try to focus on what is French and not ape others.”

Protecting the brand Champagne is something which a passion with the people and CIVC is in the forefront of it. Wibrotte informs that there are 1000 active legal cases in the world against the misuse and misrepresentation of the brand Champagne. “The idea is not to dilute the brand, the brand has been enjoying the advantage for more than 300 years it needs to be protected for the future as well,” he explains. One of their successes is also against a com-

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pany in India.

Incidentally, Champagne is only 10 per cent of the global sparkling wines production. But each house and each blend has a character like no other.

The non vintage which is more popular is best described as the best in style of a Champagne house. They are usually a blend of different cru, grapes from different years. It is also the best way to understand the philosophy of wines of the Champagne house. This style is also more complex when compared to vintages. Sophie Sigolle, viticultrice recoltant-manipulant, Champagne Michel Gonet has a straight explanation behind it all, “Either you like Champagne or you don't like it, and the first impression is the most important. The character of a Champagne can be compared to a painting and the raw emotion that it creates.”

Today, there are as many as 10000 brands of Champagnes available in the market, one hectare produces about 10,000 bottles and there are 8000 vines per hectare. “The Champagne houses in the region are unique. There are 30 major international brands, no other region has such exposure. Of the production of these houses, only 10 per cent is consumed domestically, 90 per cent is exported,” explains Wibrotte.

India however is still not a big consumer, Wibrotte informs that India consumes 300,000 bottles of Champagne in a year. According to CIVC figures, in India the ratio is 1:5804 persons for one bottle of Champagne. China is slightly better with a ratio of 1:2303 people. France still tops the consumption pattern with three bottles to one person annually followed by Belgium where one bottle is consumed by one person.

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Management

INSIGHT INTO HOSPITALITY OPERATIONS

COVER STORY

Budget means business Budget and economy hotels have been part of India's hotel scene for a while now. More and more hotel brands are looking at the segment as lucrative business opportunity. But has the segment picked up momentum and what does the future hold? By Sayoni Bhaduri

he budget and economy category of hotels in India have been growing parallel to the luxury and the mid market segment hotels. In 2004, indiOne set out on a mission to find a product that was pocket friendly for the consumer as well as efficient.

Even though the reviews were positive for the concept but changes had to be made to to suit Indian needs. Two years later it donned its current avatar – Ginger – and the evolution continues.

The success of one brand further established the well rooted fact that affordable accommodation has great business potential. More and more hotel chains – Indian and international – are looking at having a portfolio of budget hotels in their kitty.

But it is yet to gain momentum in India.

Industry stalwarts however believe, that the boom is not far away.

Prabhat Pani, CEO, Roots Corporation explains, “Of the last 20 years in the Indian hotel industry, 10 of them

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had no category like the economy and budget in the organised sector. It was slowly that few players started looking at segment.

This too mostly Indian brands, international brands still wanted to make their presence felt in the upper tiers. In the last 10 years things have changed dramatically. People are travelling more for both business and leisure, they have more disposable income.

With the concept of holidays picking up people have also become more comfortable with the idea of staying at hotels.” There has been an increase of 12.23 per cent CAGR in domestic travel from 1997 to 2011. There are almost 180 lakh Indians travelling by rail daily, two lakh by air and many more by other forms of transport.

In addition, there are between 30,000 to 40,000 foreign tourists in India on any given day. “Despite this very large base of potential users, the 160,000 hotel rooms in India do not go full www.expresshospitality.com

every day. This is because most travellers do not find a quality, right priced hotel and choose to stay in guest houses or with friends and family instead. Clearly, there is a huge opportunity for the Indian hospitality industry to go to a new level of occupancy by offering a product at the right price point,” says Abhijeet Srivastava, assistant vice president - Operations, Red Fox Hotels. There is also the corporate and business sector where everyone from MNCs to SMEs are travelling in search of better business opportunities.

Also, in a difficult economic environment, companies rationalise their expenses and among the first to be affected are travel and transit accommodation creating a great potential for the budget/economy segment.

What seems obvious is that with increase in demand and the maturation of the hotels business itself more specialists will come into the business.

Getting it right The process is time consuming; it takes time to get ones act together, the model itself, the location and the partners one is working with. It all has to come together. There are stages in the development and establishment of a budget/economy hotel as Pani explains, attraction to the segment is the first. This is now well established with more and more hotel brands wanting a share of the pie.

This is followed by putting the physical aspects of the hotel together and finally is attracting customers. “I think currently most players are in between second and third stage of the development cycle. In the next couple of years these will fructify.” The development phase itself is a sore point for many of the companies. The cost of setting up a budget hotel – in a strategic and central location – is prohibitive due to land cost and a number of licensing fees. Philip Logan, vice president, Formule 1 Hotels, India says, “There are October 16-31, 2012

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October 16-31, 2012

Philip Logan

Prabhat Pani

Vinay Jaiswal

Abhijeet Srivastava

challenges for a developer, the biggest being the cost of land. Especially in tier 2 and tier 3 cities it does not present good returns.

Impediments are also caused by the cost of construction, which sees an increase with all the delays.” Formule 1 is an Accor brand with two hotels - in Greater Noida and Ahmedabad. It is not only one of the first international brands to look at the budget and economy sector but also one of the few investing in these hotels.

If the Government wants to see tourism and business travel grow exponentially, there has to be availability of good, clean and efficiently run rooms across the country and this will require a different approach on incentives to build budget and economy hotels (especially for the land cost),” adds Srivastava.

The cost of building an

economy and budget category hotel is much lesser that than those of a full service hotels in any category. According to the HVS Whitepaper Hotel Room Supply, Capital Investment and Manpower Requirement by 2021 a budget hotel, excluding land, will cost between `14.36 lakh and `64.51 lakh. A budget hotel operates on a no-frills model, efficiently designed rooms and public areas to minimising the cost per room. The cost per room for a budget hotel may be as low as 50 per cent as compared to a five-star luxury hotel, explains Srivastava. It is more financially feasible with better ROI. “We feel that the future is in this segment. The returns are faster, and even the break even is quicker.

Since these are small scale hotels, there is a great opportunity to control costs

and the occupancies also remain high as compared to a large 300+ room hotels,” adds Vinay Jaiswal, director Operations Hotel Hindusthan International (HHI) Group. The Group too is introducing a budget segment hotel in Bengaluru under the brand HHI Select.

There is a huge variation in the product and services that are on offer in the market. Undoubtedly, a global cookie cutter model will not work in India. Needs and demands of an Indian consumer are extremely different and often difficult.

International services at Indian rates is the demand, to find the right balance will make all the difference.

Whether to keep a restaurant, a swimming pool or a gym can make all the difference in the efficiency of a hotel. At Ginger, it was choice to outsource F&B even then they could not offer the same standardised fare across the board, regional influences had to be introduced. For the young IT and ITes professionals staying at the hotel, who came back late at night 24 hours coffee shops were introduced. Pani adds, “We understood the model we wanted to go ahead with easily three-four years back, but there are always the little changes which will continue.

Outsourcing has been of significant importance for us.

The point is simple – there is no point in getting into areas in which we are not masters of.” Further under the umbrella of IHCL, there have been learnings that they just had to pick up, discipline is one of those things. Sticking to what has been planned and not straying is often a great challenge. “The crux of the business in such a model is efficiency. We do not have new architect in every new location. Our model is pretty

standard which we adapt and modify according to the need,” he continues.

Manpower and staff training is similar to what all other hotels require. The benefit is that the room to staff ratio is dramatically reduced. “In a full service three-star hotel there are as many as 125-150 people on the roll. With us there are only 50 people for a 140 room hotel. Our area focus is to multi skill the staff who work with us,” explains Pani.

He adds that as company policy they would like the staff to take up more roles and responsibilities like supervisory roles, audit activities, etc. The advantage is that in a year or two's time best performers are in the position to take up roles of assistant hotel manager. The chances of growth are faster and better. The exposure to different elements of hotel operations is more as compared to that in a full service hotel. “We have to maintain standards. We send people who are trained at our institutes if are unable to recruit locally. We also have our top corporate training teams go down to these hotels to conduct regular training to maintain proper standards.

The biggest challenge is in relation to the manpower,” says Jaiswal.

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Unorganised potential A bigger threat to the proliferation of the economy hotels is the unorganised sector, which has a strong grip on the segment. It has been an ongoing debate and question as to why a guest would opt for a branded economy hotel over the often cheaper and value-for-money unbranded hotel or guest house. It is more glaring in the economy segment, the industry overall is plagued by this. “The percentage of branded hotels couple of EXPRESS HOSPITALITY

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years ago in India was only about 25 - 30 per cent, in such a case the percentage of branded hotels in the economy is as low as five per cent,” says Pani. The ratio has improved according to the HVS Whitepaper, the branded-to-unbranded rooms’ ratio currently stands at 0.44 compared with 0.25 in 1998/99. The consumer does not have a choice but to stay in an unbranded unorganised sector hotel in a small town because the city does not offer a branded accommodation or due to high prices in the five-star segment. “The unorganised sector has a role to play which cannot be looked away. But with brands entering the space there is quality, consistency and international standards which they bring in,” says Logan. The unorganised sector is at a disadvantage,

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believes Srivastava, “They face several issues – service quality problems, cleanliness, security, etc.

Customers prefer a brand they can trust, that delivers a consistently clean, safe environment that meets their business and leisure needs across multiple hotels.”

These values are something that an established hotel brand is able to guarantee across any location. The unorganised sector hotel offers a mix bag of services which may or may not reach customer expectations. “Many of these hotels have services that we don't. That doesn't worry us, we have no qualms. Or guests are loyal and they value consistency.

We provide them assured cleanliness, hygiene, safety and the rates are always upfront. As more and more players enter the segment,

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the picture will change,” Pani says confidently.

“The unorganised sector is an easy challenge to conquer. People are conscious of established brands, they have more confidence in them. With services and standards it easy to convince clients to choose a brand over an unbranded hotel,” adds Jaiswal.

Keeping in view that the room inventory in the budget and economy segment has to see a boost, opportunities of any sort should not be missed. Still conversions of these unroganised sector hotels are looked upon sceptically. “I am less optimistic about conversions. It is the question of the quality of the build and the brand positioning. Very few meet the standards and quality, so chances of conversions are slim. Most of them that are there are mostly in the

franchise model,” Logan voices his suspicions. It is a question of dos and don'ts – the look and feel of the hotel and at the same time reducing inefficiencies.

Owners need to understand the need for standardisation, consistency and its importance for the guest. At the same time a brand needs to be willing to take the plunge to strike a right balance.

It is necessary for hotel brands to own and operate their hotels in order to provide a consistent brand experience. From here on successful brands will over time migrate onto the management platform allowing brands to expand their footprint rapidly. With the real estate scenario being as it is, the approach has to be flexible. “It allows brands to enter niche markets where building and owning a hotel may have local barriers but where the demand is strong.

Hence, we will see a growing trend of hotels in the unorganised sector entering into management contracts with established brands,” says Srivastava. In any new developing location, the first set of hotels will always be in the two- and three-star category. It is from there the business evolves as the city also grows.

Being open to buying leasing, JV on revenue or profit sharing, management contracts, PPP has to be considered in the long run.

It is critical to have presence across different geographies.

Ginger has many mixed development projects where the lower floors of the construction are given out to retail and office spaces and the upper floors are converted into a hotel.

Despite teething troubles, budget and economy sector is expected to make waves in the Indian hotel industry.

India is a growing nation, an economy with buying power.

If one looks at any industry it is on the growth path. The growth is also at the bottom end, which is a better. “The top end of the hospitality triangle has been serviced it is now the bottom end which will see growth and it is the future,” says Logan. The market is deep enough to absorb the increased inventory across metros and mini-metros.

However, winning brands will make themselves truly relevant to consumers and build an emotional connect with them.

October 16-31, 2012

M|A|N|A|G|E|M|E|N|T GM SPEAK

Light at the end of the tunnel Braving difficult times in the city of Pune is The Westin Pune Koregaon Park, with a vigour which is inspiring. Leading this battle is general manager Anuraag Bhatnagar who believes that preparing for the future is the only way out. By Sayoni Bhaduri ifficult times lie ahead for the hotel industry in Pune.

But preparing for the light at the end of the tunnel is The Westin Pune Koregaon Park; which opened its door to the world late 2009 and was one of the new breed of hotels in the city.

Today, general manager Anuraag Bhatnagar has a plan of action in place to forge through the tough times. Purely a business hotel with corporates primarily from auto and IT as main customers with an average length of stay of around 3.2 days, the hotel has almost 80 per cent of expatriate guests.

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Something new, always Looking beyond the expats Bhatnagar aggressively developed the client base in and around Pune. The focus at the hotel now is to maintain the product and the quality. “The focus is on actual customers and how to convert them into repeat clients. We realised that some soft aspects were missing and we are further trying to bring in personalised service,” says Bhatnagar.

The hotel's latest addition has been KUE bar attracting not just eyeballs but footfalls as well. Tie-ups with

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Anuraag Bhatnagar established brands like Lakme Loreal, Satya Paul, etc, has also helped. “We want to keep the buzz alive and be in the news for the right reasons. These events are designed in such a way that they are 'by invitation' only,” he explains his strategy.

In other developments at the hotel Bhatnagar informed that they are looking at expanding the dining options at the hotel. “We are looking at a mix of contemporary venue with live entertainment for the affluent 35 year plus segment, perhaps also introduce retro,” he says. He is also equipping the hotel for long staying guests by converting three floors of the hotel into studio apartments. “It is the need of the city. Six of the larger rooms will be converted into six studio apartments with a butler pantry, and laundry. This is specially for the longer staying guests, we had a prototype

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and the response was great,” he says.

Coming back to manage, maintain and bringing in business on a daily basis Bhatnagar says, “As a general manager, I had to put on the cap of revenue manager as well to take decisions. We realised that we had to keep a dynamic pricing policy, dropping rates according to the needs of the market. We also focussed on segment wise pricing.” This is in addition to the marketing and image building for the hotel. He adds that it is living life on a daily basis, with daily business analysis.

Immediate decisions are important to save a situation.

The human touch His confidence and enthusiasm was something of a shock when he took over the hotel.

Bhatnagar reminisces when he initially took over and declared the sales target of 55 per cent as a soft target. “It was an extremely achievable target and we over achieved that year closing at 68 per cent,” he says.

He then acknowledges that this achievement was also a great buy in from the owners. “The moment the owners saw results they allowed us to work on improving and bettering the product. We then invested in the product – new cars and the hotel. We also invested in associates; today we have 380 full time and 400 contract associates,” he adds.

The hotel's room to staff ratio is 1:1.6. Handling sentiments, emotions and business of an owner is a tricky job, giving many hoteliers sleepless nights.

Bhatnagar explains, “One has to be confident and sure of what one is doing and doing it the right way.

The communication is the second element, it has to be correct because we cannot forget that at the end of the day, the owner has a

debt to service.”

It was a conscious decision that Bhatnagar took: rather than cut corners and costs, he increased the sales force. “We invested in a strong sales team to quantify the work for the future, preparing for the tide to turn.

We covered every square feet of Pune,” he takes pride. The logic was simple – the value of 15-20 room nights is equal to the salary of one associate which is very easily recovered. “We treat an associate as an investment and not a liability,” Bhatnagar is firm. “The results are the proof. We are doing `1000 plus over other hotels in the same category as per STR. ARR currently is 63 per cent and the RevPAR is around `4200.”

For Bhatnagar's plan to work, it is important for the team to be motivated. He has figured a way around that as well. “I have tried to develop a sense of healthy competition amongst the associates to pick up as much business as possible.

Performance at the end of the day is key and the only way to success,” he explains.

But a perfect picture rarely exists in the industry, Bhatnagar's difficult times are around Diwali – foreigners don't travel neither do Indians. “We take these ten odd days to refresh the hotels. We are fortunate that Christmas time isn't that bad, we get a lot of social events and weddings at that point,” he happily points out.

On the role reversal from just a general manager to a businessman Bhatnagar contemplates, “General managers have to move away from the comfort zone after the recession of 2007 and 26/11. Before that it was all about the product and service, it was never a life or death situation to save business.

It became important for survival as a leader to take stock of how sales was doing. A general manager is no longer an inn-keeper but also a businessman. There is a hostile war out there to get business.” But at the same time good sales cannot compensate for the basics.

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The MICE momentum

The opening of the world's largest Sheraton in Macao gives fillip to the destination as an important MICE hub in the region that has the inventory and infrastructure for large events. By Sudipta Dev he opening of the biggest hotel in the world this year – the Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Central, coincides with a milestone in the history of Starwood Hotels and Resorts – the largest property in the portfolio in the fastest growing focus market. The celebrations of the fifth anniversary of the Cotai Strip also coincided with the 75th anniversary of Sheraton.

“This is a wonderful event for Starwood, not only because of the 75th anniversary but also as this is the largest Sheraton,” said Frits van Paasschen, president and CEO, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.

“The Cotai Strip has witnessed remarkable development in the last couple of years. The latest chapter is opening of Sheraton Macao,” added Edward Tracy, president and CEO, Sands China.

The large repository of

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rooms is targeted at the MICE area of business. “Our aim is to bring to Macao MICE based strategy. Las Vegas is a big venue for trade shows and conferences. We have tried to do that here. This is a MICE based market and the reason why we chose Sheraton is because they are leaders in MICE,” said Sheldon G Adelson,

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chairman, Las Vegas Sands Corporation and Sands China, not forgetting to add that he saw more growth in Macao than in Las Vegas.

Pointing out that the integrated resort model is unique, he stated, “Today Las Vegas is not just about gambling, a trend that is different from the 60s era, and has different entertainment opportunities.

It is the same in Macao.”

While it is a known fact that a large percentage of people go to Las Vegas to shop and watch shows, a recent survey for Macao also indicated that 43 per cent of the people who came here wanted to do shopping and indulge in gastronomical delights. “Sheraton is a part of the transition,” said Simon Turner, president, Global Development, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. He mentioned that Starwood had been waiting to bring Sheraton to Macao. “This has not happened by accident. There is no brand stronger in China in terms of footprint than Sheraton. We have great

optimism that we will establish ourselves as true leader in the market. We have more capacity to service our elite guests. No club lounge anywhere in the world has such facilities like here,” he remarked.

Kashgar Grand Ballroom in the hotel offers 52,646 square ft of pillar-less space.

There is an option to divide the floorspace into 16 smaller conferencing rooms.

There are six junior ball rooms with access to three additional ones with seating capacity of 2,000 people in theatre style. The F&B options include three restaurants - Feast for world cuisine; Bene for the best in Italian, Xin for Asian hotpot and seafood. The Pacificthemed Palms Lounge offers all-day snacks and high tea while poolside dining is also available in the three pool areas - Sala, Jaya and Tiki.

The casino has 400 tables to begin with.

The first phase of the property has opened with the Sky Tower that has 1,829 rooms; the remaining 2,067 rooms will open in early 2013 with the opening of the Earth Tower. The room categories range from Deluxe King to Executive and Ambassador Suite to Presidential Suite.

The property has the largest Sheraton Club globally with 570 guestrooms and an exclusive club lounge that has a seating capacity of 274.

The next full size project on the Cotai Strip will be the Parisian that will be built 50 per cent the true scale of Eiffel Tower. Work on the the project is expected to start in the next two months. This project will have a major shopping component.

October 16-31, 2012

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Bygone grandeur Having converted a part of the erstwhile Ranbanka Palace into a hotel in 2000 and looking at setting up a world class resort /spa in the north eastern region along with conducting wildlife safari tours, Rajkumar Karan Vijay Singh, promoter, Ranbanka Palace talks about why he is bullish about the market and his future plans. By Kahini Chakraborty uilt in 1927, Ranbanka Palace, was an honour conferred upon the courageous Rajput clan of Jodhpur, the Rathores who have ruled Jodhpur since 1459. Ranbanka, the name literally meaning the master of battles, still retains and preserves the old world charm and glory of a bygone era.

Rajkumar Karan Vijay Singh, descendant of the Rashtrakuta solar dynasty from eighth century AD, (and the great grandson of HH Maharaja Sardar Singh, grandson of Rao Jodha), conjoining his royal ancestry with his passion for travelling and a keen eye for detail, launched Ranbanka Hotels. In 2000, a part of the erstwhile palace was commissioned to be converted into a heritage hotel, offering guests the opportunity to enjoy one of Rajasthan’s foremost royal experiences.

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Old world charm “The journey of converting our residence to a heritage hotel has been both challenging and exciting. We not only ensured that we retained the old world charm and glory of the bygone area but also offered all the modern amenities that today’s discerning traveller looks forward to. From the selection of architect interior designer to supervising the civil and interior work on a daily basis, the task was gruelling and satisfying at the same

Rajkumar Karan Vijay Singh

Rajasthani flavours Ranbanka Palace offers an array of cuisines and is famous for its elaborate Rajasthani flavours. From in-room dining to buffets, a la carte, private gatherings and theme dinners, Ranbanka Palace offers diversity in dining at - The Ranbanka Bagh, in the garden; The Pancharanga, overlooking the center courtyard; The Polo Bar, housing an exhibit of the family’s trophies won over generations and The Baithak, an exemplary Rajasthani lounge complete with bajots and gaddi massons.

Kaalbelia dancers, puppet shows and traditional music recitals offer a chance to enjoy aspects of Rajasthani culture. Other attractions include signature spa therapies at the ‘Spa By The Baradri’, unique in-room shopping available only in the Jodhana Wing, handcrafted and tailor-made RBJ mojris.

October 16-31, 2012

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time. Ranbanka Palace today is a retreat sculptured in vintage artistry, grand edifices, sandstone exteriors and ancient photographs of the Royal family adorning the rooms.

It houses a range of accommodations from deluxe pool and courtyard facing rooms to extravagant suites in the royal ‘Heritage Wing’ and luxurious ‘Jodhana Wing’.

The elegantly appointed rooms, long corridors, majestic terraces and gardens echo with history and every corner relays a story,” says Singh.

Keeping in tune with contemporary times, the hotel is equipped with modern facilities from

satellite TV and wireless facilities to the state-of-theart business centre, spa, multi-cuisine restaurant and outdoor dining experiences, bar, travel desk, shopping arcade and much more.

Come evenings and the hotel is enlivened with the rhythm of the Kaalbelia dancers, soothing rendition of traditional music recitals, mirthful puppet shows and a host of cultural extravaganza.

Singh is passionate and bullish that the market scenario will improve from next year onwards. “The industry has seen the worst and things will bottom down by this year end. The industry is going through some turbulent times presently with the Euro zone showing no sign of abatement, higher interests, inflation and the Indian economy also suffering due to global recession. All this is putting a lot of pressure on hotel margins,” opines Singh.

Describing the immense potential that the country offers, he candidly opines, “If one looks at the heritage sites in India, there is lot of apathy and negligence in maintaining them. The government should seriously consider public private partnerships to give them a new lease of life.

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put in effect an achievable timebound plan to preserve the rich cultural, priceless but crumbling heritage buildings/monuments dotting the entire length and breadth of India.”

Tea time But even though there is uncertainty looming in the

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economy, Singh has already chalked out business expansion plans in India and is also looking at reviving a 100-year-old ancestral tea garden in Uttarakhand to promote tea tourism in the region. “As of now our focus is to upgrade Ranbanka Palace as it has been operating as a heritage

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resort for a decade now.

Also The Chowkori Tea Estate, situated at the foothills of the famous Nanda Devi, Pancholi Range of the Himalayas, sprawling over 2,000 acres of forest, meadows and tea gardens, is one of the world’s most unique and picturesque sites,” he informs.

Explaining the reasons behind his plan to revive the tea gardens, Singh narrates the history behind it, “Tea plantation was started by the British in the year 1880 and Chinese expertise was brought in from across the border to grow the Chinese large leaf variety. The tea gardens flourished till 1960 and tea was exported to the markets of Europe and England.

Sadly, today the tea gardens are in a state of neglect. We are now trying to revive the same with the help of the technical support and investment subsidy policies of the Uttarakhand government and NABARD for re-plantation of fresh tea bushes from local government nurseries as well as setting up of own nurseries of the existing bushes.”

He adda, “Alongside, the owners and the local people of the region have submitted a proposal to the government for developing tea tourism, along the lines of tea tourism policies which are already existing in the north east. Once the government policies and permissions are in place, we along with the other family co-owners plan to set up a world class resort/spa which will cater to not only

Indian clients but also foreigners. Amongst all the regular hospitality facilities there will also be a helipad on the property. The resort will conduct wildlife safari tours being home to the almost extinct musk deer, leopards, panthers and exotic varieties of birds etc, trekking and expeditions to the Nanda Devi mountains and adjoining glaciers, being en route to Mansarovar and the famous Milan Glaciers of the Himalayan region.”

Presently, Chowkori is one of the most sought after tourist destinations, the tourist season being almost all the year round. There already exists a welldeveloped infrastructure conducive to tourism, by way of good roads and natural Himalayan springs that dot the entire area.

Interestingly, Singh has played a pivotal role in reviving equestrian polo in India. Commenting on how India can leverage on promoting sports as a tourism product, Singh mentions, “Sports has held a universal appeal from bygone eras. Romans were the first to recognise this but sadly in India, sports is not even in the government's TO DO list.

The government needs to understand and take an active role in promoting sports tourism - be it related to policies, infrastructure or funds. The historical and geographical diversities of India open up great avenues for adventure sports and activities within India and provide an ideal platform to promote sports tourism.”

October 16-31, 2012

M|A|N|A|G|E|M|E|N|T IN FOCUS

A unique Keralan odyssey Malabar escapes offers the quintessential experiences of Kerala to international guests and the new age Indian traveller.

Joerg Drechsel, director, Malabar escapes and The Malabar House reveals his success formula of operating heritage properties in India. By Sudipta Dev

Joerg Drechsel and Txuku Iriarte he Incredible India Campaign states: "Joerg Drechsel fell in love with India as he hitchhiked across the country in 1972. He returned in 1994, with his Spanish wife Txuku.

They bought an early 20th century bungalow at Fort Cochin and transformed it into Malabar House, an

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eclectic hotel. If you are looking for a beautiful journey unlike any other, visit India. Like Joerg & Txuku, you will find that your search ends here." The Malabar House at Fort Cochin opened in 1997 followed by privacy at Sanctuary Bay, serenity at Kanam estate, trinity at Fort Cochin, discovery the

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houseboat and finally purity at Lake Vembanad. The Malabar House is the first Relais & Chateaux property in India.

“These properties form Malabar escapes, our yet growing chain of villa hotels that offer a deeper and more personalised Keralan odyssey. Malabar escapes offers a circuit of travel experiences that allow you to discover the variety of Kerala with the least possible road travel. In fact most of our guests stay in more than one of our properties. We are therefore always looking at new experiences to add to the portfolio,” says Joerg Drechsel, director, Malabar escapes and The Malabar House.

The quintessential experience of Malabar escapes, according to Drechsel, is the multi-layer of experiences that they offer to the guests - culture, heritage, design, people, culinary, spa and yoga.

The target clientele are international travellers – while most of them are from

Europe there is a growing market from USA, Australia, Africa and Asia. “Our guests are mainly FIT as well as small selected groups for culinary, yoga or cultural travel,” says Drechsel, pointing out that there is a growing request for family travel experiences. The most significant recent trend/change in client profile has been a strong growth of national market and a greater number of experienced oriented travellers.

Considering the fact that operating heritage properties is not an easy task in India, Drechsel attributes his success to a number of factors. “As the joint secretary of the Indian Heritage Hotels Association, I am actively involved in the heritage hotels movement.

Today we look at heritage hotels as part of the Responsible Tourism movement, which is based on sustainability, ecology and social responsibility.

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Malabar trails The Malabar House, Fort Cochin: In the heart of historical Fort Cochin, the property combines traditional and contemporary design and is furbished with select antiques and art. The 17 rooms have striking colour schemes and are decorated with antique objets d’art. The Malabar Junction is the gourmet restaurant in the property offering both south Indian and western cuisine, while Divine is the wine lounge. trinity, Fort Cochin: Situated a two minute walk from The Malabar House is a large gate with the initials VOC.The monogram, which is dated 1740, represents the Dutch East India Company, which had its offices here for almost 150 years. The three -bedrooms villa is furnished with contemporary design and unique pieces of art. All rooms have private bath- garden. At the adjoining property facing the Parade Ground currently work is going on to add five more rooms. purity, Lake Vembanad: This is a unique backwater retreat situated on the banks of Lake Vembanad.

There are four Deluxe Rooms on the ground floor. The Vembanad Suite covers the entire first floor with a beautiful view over the garden and lake. The Garden Suite is ideal for families. The menu includes local, Indian and Mediterranean cuisine. privacy, Sanctury Bay: Situated on the shores of Lake Vembanad, there are two bungalows facing the lake with a panoramic view of Kumarakom. Privacy is surrounded by water canals. Both bungalows (Waterfront Bungalow and Heritage Bungalow) are situated in a tropical garden.

Privacy has a unit manager and a team of six members. The trained chef prepares delicious meals and a daily fresh menu based on the recipes of The Malabar Junction at Malabar House. serenity, Kanam Estate: This is situated on a small hilltop, surrounded by a rubber plantation in the heart of the plantation hills, midway between Cochin and Thekkady. The old plantation bungalow, built in the 1920’s retains the original woodwork, paneling and atmosphere. All rooms are decorated with antique objets d’art. Local Indian and Mediterranean cuisine is available. discovery, the houseboat: moored at privacy, Sanctuary Bay this is the first boat on the backwaters to be completely eco-friendly.The chef prepares meals, based on the recipes of The Malabar House, local Indian and Mediterranean cuisine is available.

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responsibility means training and employing local people, what we and most of the others do. Ecology is difficult at times in an old building but with some sensible compromises you can achieve a lot. Malabar House has been the first hotel in India to be certified by Green Globe in 2003,” he states.

Drechsel remembers to add that while the overheads of running a heritage property are higher then running a hotel, which has been build for the purpose, but the first offer the client a unique experience, a value that should compensate for the cost.

The promotional strategy is very focused. Hanna Drechsel, director - marketing & sales, Malabar escapes & The Malabar House says, “We focus on quality, diversity and uniqueness; consistency and a clearly recognisable product and service; selected operators and press relations.”

Joerg Drechsel has received many prestigious awards in the last 15 years, ranging from three Kerala state awards for excellence in tourism to four national tourism awards.

October 16-31, 2012

Edge

T E C H N O L O G Y F O R H O S P I TA L I T Y

TECHTALK

Software as an organiser Event management software can help planners to automate the processes, increase attendance and reduce cost. Vikas Gupta, country head-India, Cvent talks about the many benefits of deploying such solutions. By Sudipta Dev ounded in 1999, Cvent is a global meetings and event management technology company that offers web-based software for online event registration, meeting site selection, event management, mobile apps for events, e-mail marketing and web surveys. “We help over 10,000 clients across 90 countries manage hundreds of thousands of events, surveys and e-mail campaigns. We have processed over US$ two billion in online payments and have managed over 30 million event registrations and survey responses for our clients.,” says Vikas Gupta, country head-India, Cvent.

The main products for the MICE industry include Cvent’s Event Management Software for automating events, Cvent Supplier Network for easy venue selection, Mobile Apps for building event-specific apps and web surveys software for gathering feedback on events.

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October 16-31, 2012

The many advantages For a conference organiser, there are many benefits of deploying an event management software. Gupta explains that the event management software provides event and conference planners with a complete solution to increase event attendance and decrease event costs. By automating the event management processes, the software enables the planner to focus their time on strategic decisions rather than repetitive, time consuming tasks.

Further, planners are able to build customised event websites designed to match their branding; setup event registration processes; process online payments directly into their bank accounts; effortlessly handle group discounts, coupons and refunds; manage budgets for a single event or for an entire events programme and avoid the most time consuming attendee communication tasks by automated and personalised

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Vikas Gupta emails. “Aside from managing the event, planners are also able to increase attendance by creating sophisticated marketing campaigns surrounding their event’s programme and create reports to analyse and review results and statistics over time to improve events at an organisation wide level,” mentions Gupta.

Then there are the cost factors.

According to Gupta the software helps in reducing cost by giving planners the functionality to use email campaigns to send automated, targeted and personalised emails. “An invitee is more likely to open and respond to an email if they feel it is personal and targeted to them. This not only drives attendance but also reduces the cost of paper campaigns which generally see a lower response rate. In addition, planners can set the Cvent System to automatically send a reminder invitation after a set number of days until those 'undecided' give you a 'yes' or 'no' response. Cvent helps you monetise those 'no’s' by letting you capture information from those who declined the invitation,” he says, pointing out that planners can learn why the invitee responded 'no' and if they would like to receive more information about the company and its future events, making them a viable future lead.

Gupta asserts that time is money.

“The software helps planners set-up and launch an event campaign in minutes with a single tool, whereas direct mail or fax campaigns can take days or even weeks to set up and launch. This time saving means increased productivity allowing planners to focus on creating better events,” he adds.

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E|D|G|E mobile applications for business and consumer events and making the entire event experience simpler, more social and easier to share. It allows attendees to build relationships and interact through real time messaging, help attendees plan their schedules, navigate the event and easily find exhibits. Mobile apps also make it easy for attendees to contact exhibitors and sponsors with our tap to call option. And, planners are able to grow partnerships by capturing leads for exhibitors and sponsors,” states Gupta. This apart, attendees also appreciate having all the information they need about the event at their fingertips, and sponsors see event apps as a valuable channel for reaching busy attendees.

India market Integration with mobile applications Mobile apps are increasingly becoming a common trend at events. Gupta reveals that realising the potential, Cvent recently

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acquired two mobile companies CrowdCompass and Seed Labs (later rebranded as CrowdTorch to position as a partner product to CrowdCompass).

“Cvent specialises in creating

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The MICE industry has shown a lot of growth in the past five years. Gupta believes that the event management process has become more organised and planners are recognising the importance of technology.

“Not only are they using

social media to market their events, they are also opening up to using technology to automate the event management process,” he points out.

The company's target clientele in India is anyone who plans and hosts events.

“We target everyone from corporations and associations planning their annual meetings, conference and event planners sourcing their next event, or hoteliers and special event venues looking to market their venues to event planners,” states Gupta.

He asserts that the India market is ripe for opportunity within the meetings and events industry. “We plan to work vigorously with potential clients, especially Indian MICE planner and hoteliers, to whom we can provide event management technology and eMarketing solutions,” says Gupta. To enable this the company will be hosting educational seminars for planners in the next quarter to educate them about the benefits of event management software and how they can leverage it to boost attendance and reduce costs.

October 16-31, 2012

Hospitality

Life

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

Global training, local focus Joseph A McInerney, president and CEO, American Hotel and Lodging Association traces the growth of the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute in India in the last 18 years and talks about the current focus on continuing education. By Sudipta Dev he American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH&LA) is the sole representative of the hotel industry in the United States with an education institution that is international in scope. The 105-year-old association provides advocacy, public relations, image management for the industry, along with research, training and value added services for its members. “Our partner state associations would provide the same thing at state and local level. We also have a foundation that provides US$ 1.2 million each year in scholarships, research grants, work force development, etc,” says Joseph A McInerney, president and chief executive officer, AH&LA. The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AH&LEI) offers its Global Academic Programme (GAP) to more than 60 countries across the world. The AH&LEI office in India has been operational for the last 18 years. “K V Simon is our managing director. We are working with 70 different schools with all the major international and Indian hotel companies. We provide education resources and training material so that we can customise content for each hotel using the material that we've already provided,” states McInerney, adding that the last two decades has seen has AH&LEI grow tremendously in India in terms of hospitality education.

to run the international companies that are present in India. “It makes tourists feel better when they go to a hotel and see someone local running it and is a part of it, not someone from the US. Today's thinking is that you have to assimilate into the local community and be part of it. Hotels have to be part of the community and the employees, the general manager has to make sure that it is a sustainable product within the community, act within the community and do things for the community,” he emphasises.

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Focus on continuing education Acknowledging that the service industry is one of the primary growth areas in India, McInerney adds, “We've October 16-31, 2012

Joseph A McInerney noticed over the years the growth of international presence in India. All the major companies are developing their hotels. The greatest natural resource that India has is the brain power.” For years AH&LEI has worked with schools using the programmes to train young future leaders of the industry, now there is a lot of focus on continuing education. “We are now spending a lot of time working with the industry itself in doing continuing education programmes for them. The Taj Group has 1,500 employees using 33 of our courses that are part of their lodging management programme, we are talking with other companies about doing the same thing,” says McInerney, reminding that while there is an opportunity to work with international companies with whom AH&LEI has a relationship in the US or Europe, but also importantly with companies in India.

“The future of India is really within India itself,” he asserts. He believes in the importance of training people www.expresshospitality.com

India-centric programmes AH&LEI has a close relationship with the Hotel & Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI), which according to McInerney, has helped them to make their programme more Indian centric.

“Originally, most our training was US centric, about five-six years ago we've realised that

It makes tourists feel better when they go to a hotel and see someone local running it.

Today's thinking is that you have to assimilate into the local community and be part of it

in the training field one size does not fit all, the programmes have to be adapted to the local cultures. Half a dozen of our programmes are India centric by using Indian case studies, using local people into the videos, using colloquialism from the local area, we feel that is important and use it more and more in the programmes that we have,” he mentions.

The future strategy for India is to add more people to AH&LEI operations. “We now have an office in Delhi and now we are covering more of the country. And as the industry will grow, we will grow,” he said adding that the institution is also working with other local companies that are doing training. “We are providing them with content, not just for our industry but also other industries. Because many of the things in the hospitality industry is able to be used in other industries, especially service, e.g. retail industry or the car rental industry, they all need service culture. Anybody that touches the customer out there can participate in our programme,” remarks McInerney. He points out, “India is a very interesting country, there is something for everyone in different parts of it. There is great opportunity to grow here, it can only get better.”

McInerney points out that the significant factor that separates the institution from others is that the training programme (from text books to videos) are developed by the industry and reviewed by academics as opposed to common practice academics writing the text and reviewed by the industry.

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H|O|S|P|I|T|A|L|I|T|Y

L|I|F|E

Movements Absolute Hotel Services (AHS) Group

Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas

Radisson Blu Hotel Jaipur Airport

The Westin Mumbai Garden City

Absolute Hotel Services Group has appointed Sameer Dharkar as managing director for India/Middle East and Mark Heather as vice presidentBusiness Development. Prior to this new appointment, Dharkar was a director with Absolute Hotel Services India as well as a director with Money Managers India. Heather who was previously managing director for Absolute Hotel Services India will relocate to Bangkok, Thailand in a full business development role in the capacity of vice president business development. His main focus will be business expansions in Indochina, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia as well as developing new territories.

Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas has opened a global sales office in India in Mumbai and has appointed Shannon Creado as regional director of Sales for India. Creado joined Anantara in November 2010 as director of sales and marketing for Anantara Phuket Villas in Thailand.

He started his career in hospitality in the early nineties in an operational role with Park Plaza Hotels in India.

Atal Saran Bhargava has been appointed as director - sales and marketing for Radisson Blu Hotel Jaipur Airport. His new role will include planning and strategising the marketing plans for the hotel, directing all sales and marketing efforts towards achieving the operational goals of the hotel. An alumnus of IHM Mumbai 1994 batch, Bhargava has an experience of over 17 years, 14 years in the hospitality industry.

Kallol Saha has been appointed as training manager at The Westin Mumbai Garden City. Saha has over six years of experience in the industry and his previous assignment include training manager, The Westin Sohna and Gurgaon and assistant manager training & HR at The Leela Kempinski Gurgaon. He completed his Bachelor of Hotel Management from PES Institute of Hotel Management.

Keraton at The Plaza Hotel

Daydream Island Resort and Spa

Giles Selves has been appointed as general manager of Keraton at The Plaza, a Luxury Collection Hotel located in Jalan Thamrin, Jakarta.

Selves has been with Starwood for almost two decades, where he has specialised in hotel operations as well as developing food and beverage programmes and concepts to enhance the guest experience. He comes to The Keraton direct from The St Regis Bangkok, where he was the hotel manager for the pre-opening team for Thailand’s first St Regis hotel.

Daydream Island Resort and Spa has appointed Ral Italiano as director of sales. Italiano will work out of Daydream’s Brisbane sales office and brings over two decades of industry experience to the group.

Italiano’s focus will be on managing the sales and reservations departments, where he will oversee all markets including domestic and international groups, business plan development and operations, and key stakeholder relations.

Park Plaza Bengaluru Ravi Rai has been appointed as executive assistant manager of Park Plaza Bengaluru. In his current role he is actively involved in budget formulation and strategic management to maximise revenue and cement prolific business associations. Passionate to promote the different facets of this multicultural land, he is all set to leverage the group’s ambitions to a whole new dimension in India’s IT hub.

Courtyard by Marriott, Mumbai International Airport Sherman Almeida has been elevated as the director of Food and Beverage (F&B) at Courtyard

by Marriott, Mumbai International Airport. He joined Courtyard Marriott Mumbai as the F&B manager when the hotel opened its doors in April 2011. As the director of F&B, Almeida will overlook the kitchen operations of the hotel and the functioning of all the outlets such as MoMo Café, MoMo 2 You, MoMo 2 Go and Red Zen.

Dusit International

Nikko Bali Resort & Spa Nikko Bali Resort and Spa has announced the appointment of Joy Cartwright who was previously the resort’s director of sales and marketing as the resort’s new representative in Australia, where she will hold the position of director of sales for Australia and New Zealand. Cartwright will develop and maintain solid relationships with trade partners, wholesalers and retail agents, as well as attending trade shows on behalf of the company.

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In her place, the resort has appointed Peter Maurice van Peborgh-Gooch as director of sales and marketing. He will be in charge of implementing the plan for the repositioning of the hotel and will also execute the upcoming launch of the resort’s new luxury villas, multipurpose function centre and new wedding gazebo facility.

The resort also has a new personnel manager, Lilik Kris Karyani.

Although this will be her first role in a HR department in a resort, she has more than fifteen years of expertise in corporate offices in Bali, including her last appointment at the Jenggala Keramik Bali.

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Dusit International has appointed Silvano Trombetta as its new corporate director of rooms. Silvano has more than twenty years of solid management experience to his new position that sees him assuming responsibility for Dusit International rooms operations globally.

Silvano’s career includes six years as front office manager at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, and from 20022004, in a similar position at the Conrad Hotel Bangkok, where in 2004, he was promoted to director of rooms.

October 16-31, 2012

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W|E|E|K|E|N|D

Day and night he buzz was on as restaurateur Ashok Datwani re-launched Shatranj Napoli with the introduction of the all-day Polpo Café and Bar and the classic Italian restaurant, Shatranj fine dine and Polpo Up – The Gatherings. This brunch and sundowner affair attracted the likes of Helen and Salim Khan, Sohail Khan, Sameer Datani, Anchal Kumar, Narendra Kumar, Rohit and Ronit Roy, Shaimak Davar, Aditya Pancholi, Manjiri Phadnis, Babita Malkani, Yukta Mookhey, Prachi Desai, Sucheta Sharma, Alesia Raut, Chetan Hansraj, Kanchi Kaul and Nishka Lulla among many more.

Cocktails at the bar, appetisers, tapas and main course dishes were in store for the many guests.

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WEEKEND SCENE AND HEARD

Marcellus Baptista

Helen, Sohail Khan, Payal Datwani, Salim Khan and Ashok Datwani at Shatranj

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN MUMBAI’S HOTELS? A PEEK INTO THE PARTY CIRCUIT AND EVENTS IN THE CITY...

Wellness wonder

Wheels and whisky uests sipped single malts at Tote as Glenmorangie celebrated Dilip Chhabria and his Unnecessarily Well Made Creation. Unveiled was the car that caught your eye and in the house was David Blackmore, global brand ambassador, Glenmorangie and Gaurav Bhatia, MD, Moët Hennessy India. The many guests included Sabina and Anil Chopra, Nathalia Kaur, Amrita Puri, Harman Baweja, Sameer Dattani and Narendra Kumar. And holding forth on the event, automotive design stalwart Dilip Chhabria felt that as part of the creative collaboration with Glenmorangie, they were delighted to unveil DC Designs’ newest concept car. Word has it that it was inspired by the pioneering spirit of Glenmorangie and its many firsts.

Japanese jamboree ollowing the success of the Cool Japan festival at High Street Phoenix was the Maidoindia presentation of Feel Japan with unique Japanese products brought to India for the very first time at Palladium, sourced

by Japanese e-commerce retailer 47Club.

You could get a feel of Japan at Foodhall with a selection of innovative home and kitchenware products. On view were beautiful Japanese bowls, elegant dinner plates, chopsticks, delicate hand-fans, battery fans, nail clippers, cupboards, ikebana scissors and much more. On preview evening guests like Narendra Kumar, Kadambari Lakhani and Jyoti Gwalani relished the sake and sushi served.

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Fredrika Rembrant and Cecilia Oldne at Spa la Vie by L'Occitane he good life was enjoyed as Sula Vineyards teamed up with Spa la Vie by L’Occitane, the Mediterranean wellness sanctuary that believes in l’art de vivre, the French art of slowing down and savouring each sensuous moment. Cecilia Oldne, Sula Vineyards’ global brand ambassador and head of International Business welcomed her friends and associates to an evening of indulgence and pampering of the senses. Setting the tone of the evening was Sula Brut Rosé among guests like Swedish Consul General Fredrika Rembrant, Kadambari Lakhani, Akanksha Nanda, Suki and Parveen Dusanj. A highlight of the evening was the limited release Rasa 2011 Shiraz tasting in the prized stone bed Hammam room at the spa and it all ended in a sweet note with the late harvest Chenin Blanc 2012 paired with Vinoteca’s new range of truffles.

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Dilip Chhabria at the Glenmorangie night at Tote October 16-31, 2012

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Harry Chang and Kadambari Lakhani at the Feel Japan launch at Palladium

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WEEKEND E V E N T S

Striving to deliver

Spreading happiness

Radisson Blu Hotel New Delhi Paschim Vihar, as a part of their responsible business initiatives held an event for over 40 childhood cancer patients in association with Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA)

(L-R) Madhukar Nikam, CEO, Manjeera Hotels; Chandana Khan, secretary, department of Tourism, Andhra Pradesh; Vatti Vasanth Kumar, minister for Tourism & Culture, Andhra Pradesh; Deep Kumar Gupta, GM, Aditya Hometel receiving the Award for Excellence in Best Maintained Property in three-star category

Wine tour

Clean up

Les Clefs d’Or India Concierge members from Western Region recently visited the Sula Vineyards, Nashik for an education tour

RODAS Mumbai & Meluha the Fern Mumbai Green team members took the initiative to clean Powai area on Ganesh Visarjan day which was followed by educating150 school and college students on the making of manure at the vermicompost plant

Sensory pleasures

Efficiency pays

All Things Nice along with The Olive Bar & Kitchen, Mahalaxmi organised ‘Twisted Decadence’, a multi-course dinner while blindfolded

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The Fern – An Ecotel Hotel, Jaipur was awarded the first prize for Most Economic and Efficient Energy User unit in one-to-four-star hotel category. The award was presented by Rakesh Srivastava, commissioner and principal secretary tourism, department of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan

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October 16-31, 2012

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