Movenpick Hotels & Resorts kicked off its Indian expansion strategy on day one of the HICSA conference last month. The Indian market debutant intends to open a 184-room property in Bengaluru by the end of the year. The property will boast banqueting faculties, meetings rooms, a spa, as well as a smorgasbord of F&B outlets.
According to senior vice president, Middle East and Asia, Andreas Mattmuller, the Bengaluru hotel will be the first in a cluster of properties that will be swiftly opened across the country. “Bengaluru is being fitted out as we speak and will open by the end of the year. We’re planning to open between 12-and-15 hotels across India by 2015,” he added.
Other properties are expected to open in Mumbai, Goa, Kerala, Chennai and New Delhi in rapid succession. Depending on the location and season, the hotel chain’s rates will be between US$180-300 per night. “We are not competing with the luxury brands, which is a very competitive market,” explained Mattmuller. “We are a lower five-star brand, offering value packages… this is a good segment to be in right now,” he added.
Analysts with HVS tend to agree. The recent edition of The HVS India Journal highlights the “urgent need,” for budget and mid-market hotels. “Various domestic and international brands have made significant inroads into this space and more are expected to follow as the potential for this segment of hotels becomes obvious,” stated the journal.
Movenpick is determined to grab its share of the emerging market. The company’s cluster development strategy will be key in winning loyal customers throughout India.
“We have found that it pays to develop hotel clusters; this gives us a network for the brand across the country. This makes sense in markets like India and China. There is no point in just having one property. We need to have a network [of properties],” said Mattmuller. “By building a cluster, we help to build repeat guests,” he added.
An early differentiating factor for the Movenpick chain in the increasingly competitive low five-star range, will be its range of F&B outlets. Each property will promise a range of F&B outlets that will “innovate…[we will] offer something out of the box, a little crazy,” promised Mattmuller. “All of our outlets will offer quality and value for money,” he added.
