1. Since you have touched down 65 glorious years, how has the Business journey of MBD Group been so far?
MBD Group had a remarkable business journey in the last 65 years. The foundation stone of the Group was laid by the Founder, Shri Ashok Kumar Malhotra in 1956 with one bookstore in Jalandhar, Punjab. Today under his leadership, the Group has diversified into various sectors such as Publishing, Printing, EdTech, Paper Manufacturing, Notebooks, Skill Development, Capacity Building, Exports, Hospitality, Design and Construction, Food & Beverage and Residences and Commercial Spaces operating in India and abroad.
Today, MBD Group has its presence in 3 continents, 30 countries and 5000 cities, and publishes 50 million books for all classes, all subjects, major boards and in multiple languages; nationally and internationally. Also, MBD Group is the only publishing house in India with complete backward and forward integration, right from self-owned paper manufacturing unit to in-house pre-press facilities, in-house printing and binding units, and also its own distribution network with 29 branch offices pan India. The group has also ventured into the South African and Sri-Lankan markets with its basket of education services.
With technological advancements, MBD also kept evolving itself to compliment new age digital publishing. In addition, MBD Disha, the flagship teacher capacity-building program trains close to 70,000 teachers annually. In addition to it, the Group is also the pioneers to introduce AR, VR and Robotics in India.
With an aim to offer high quality study material to students in the form of e-books, audio lessons, video lessons, online assignment and assessments, MBD launched “Aasoka”, the personalised learning app. The app is driven by the latest research in pedagogy and innovations in teaching methodology to engage students’ attention and curiosity, encouraging and motivating them to study more and learn more. Also, the recently introduced Aasoka Learning and Teaching solutions (ALTS) gives endless opportunities to students to learn effectively and teachers and school management to carry out their responsibilities with ease. The students can access physical books as well.
Driven by the vision of the Founder Sh. Ashok Kumar Malhotra to diversify into various other sectors, MBD group forayed into hospitality sector by launching “Radisson Blu MBD Hotel”, the first five-star luxury hotel of Noida on 21st November 2003. Last year, the hotel completed 18 glorious years of delivering finest hospitality and impeccable services. In these 18 years of service, the hotel has been acknowledged with a lot of accolades like the ‘Best Luxury Hotel – Noida 2022’ by HRANI and Times Hospitality Icon – 2021 being the recent ones.
This launch was followed by the launch of Radisson Blu MBD Ludhiana, the first five-star hotel in Ludhiana .Both hotels in Noida and Ludhiana are market leaders in their respective cities and have been awarded year on year for their remarkable performance and guest services. Some of the accolades that the hotel has bagged are of “Pride of Ownership Recognition” award by Radisson Hotel Group, Best Luxury Hotel Award by HRANI, Luxury Business Hotel among others.
With the vision to expand on asset light mode , the group has also entered into joint venture with Germany’s largest hotel chain, Steigenberger, to do luxury hotels under the brand MBD Steigenberger in India .
More recently the Group has launched MBD Express – our mid-market brand which aims to revolutionaries the mid-market hotel experience in India .MBD Group is also very well know for its numerous successful F&B brands such as RED, Made in India and The Chocolate Box and Lounge .
Additionally the MBD group also owns and operates retail developments and has been successful operating , MBD Neopolis Malls in Ludhiana and Jalandhar , which are the most premium and successful shopping and entertainment destinations of Punjab today.
2. What was it like launching Radisson Blu MBD Ludhiana? Are there any more expansion plans of the hotel?
MBD Group has been amongst the first to pioneer a franchise Radisson Hotel in India. Radisson Blu MBD Noida is based on superior standards and performance. Continuing with the vision of our Founder Sh. Ashok Kumar Malhotra to add more hotels in the hospitality vertical, the launch of Radisson Blu Hotel MBD Ludhiana was a proud moment & a self-gratifying experience for us especially because our founder started his entrepreneurial journey from Punjab and wanted to give the best back to Punjab .
Last year, the hotel completed nine successful years of providing remarkable hospitality and impeccable services to its patrons.
Radisson Blu Hotel MBD Ludhiana was the first five star hotel of Ludhiana and since its launch changed the entire hospitality landscape of Ludhiana , be it in terms of the rooms or the food and beverage experience .
In terms of performance as well the hotel leads the market both it terms of REVPAR in its competitive set and also in terms of food and beverage revenue .
Our new hospitality verticals: Joint venture with Deutsche Hospitality to bring in MBD Steigenberger hotels in the luxury & business domain along with MBD Express hotels our own home grown hotels focussed in the budget traveller domain shall an additional dimension in the hospitality league is our focus in hospitality now .
3. Tell us more about the company diversification into various industries including E-Learning, M-Learning, Hospitality, Real Estate, Mall Development and Management, ICT Infrastructure, Skill Development, Stationery, Magazine and Paper Manufacturing?
Recently, the successful launch of our newest game-changing product, Aasoka Learning and Teaching Solution (ALTS), has been a milestone for MBD Group. ALTS covers all aspects of products and services for schools by providing a hybrid product with printed books and all digital solutions along with an integrated school ERP which can be accessed through the Aasoka app/web. With this product, I am sure we have made a difference and effected positive change in the way teaching learning takes place in schools. ALTS is a market disruptor and it has increased our market reach fourfold.
It was under the aegis of our Founder Late Sh. Ashok Malhotra that MBD Group, an education company of repute forayed into new markets as he had a great vision and a deep insight into the gap the market had in terms of product and service availability.
Driven by the futuristic vision of the Founder, the Group diversified into various industries including E-Learning, M-Learning, Hospitality, Real Estate, Mall Development and Management, ICT Infrastructure, Skill Development, Stationery, Magazine and Paper Manufacturing. Having occupied a prominent position in the edtech & education vertical for more than seven decades, MBD Group continues to remain an established name in the corporate world with its matchless service levels and an intention to redefine the many elements that form part of our day-to-day life. On traditional training front, MBD Skills has been a pioneering initiative in Skill Development for IT, ITES and hospitality industries. Over 35,000 people have been trained, and the target is to provide skill training to 1 million people by 2025. We also have Paper manufacturing and Stationery units and publish the Democratic World magazine.
Adding to the above list are the MBD Neopolis Jalandhar and MBD Neopolis Ludhiana – the most premium and successful shopping and entertainment zones of Punjab.
MBD Group is now stepping up and brining a world-class commercial project in Whitefield Bangalore where we intend to develop a 1.6 million sq. ft. of commercial office space.
Our expansion plans that include MBD Express and MBD Steingenberger intend to have 100 and 20 hotels respectively in the coming 5 years.
We are also planning to aggressively brand The Chocolate Box – and position it at locations with high footfall. This
Made in India is one of the most loved Indian restaurant and we are planning to expand its horizons too in India as well as cross borders.
4. What according to you are the key trends and opportunities in the Indian hospitality segment?
The year 2022 will be critical for the hospitality sector as there is an upward trend post-COVID pandemic. We foresee the demand of domestic leisure to continue, as people have accepted the new ‘normal’ of travel in the current COVID pandemic-world, even if Omicron related variants emerge from time-to-time in the sector’s recovery. Indian hotel sector has learned to adapt quickly, think outside the box and adapt to the new innovative ideas faster than before.
The below are some of the trends which we expect to pick up in the forthcoming months:
- Reinstatement of corporate travel like pre-pandemic.
- Emergence of SMEs.
- Enhancement in the undiscovered leisure segment.
- Unlock ancillary revenue management opportunities.
- Technology and AI driven business management operations with amendment in the hotel design.
- Adaptive and flexible operations.
- 3rd party management and business processes outsourcing with multiple synchronised partners.
- Entrance of hospitality chains in diversified accommodation trends and facilities to suit travellers of all kinds.
- Renewable energy as well as conversation is the way forward.
5. What is the growth strategy and expansion plans of the Group pertaining to the hospitality segment?
As mentioned earlier, our continued association with Radisson Hotel Group, with a joint venture with Deutsche Hospitality to bring in MBD Steigenberger hotels and growth of our in-house brand MBD Express hotels shall define our portfolio to cater to varied traveller needs. We already have a robust team of professionals in MBD to augment the growth envisaged in our hospitality vertical.
Additionally, we are working towards growing the savour brand – The Chocolate Box and our Indian Cuisine restaurant – Made in India to international markets as well.
6. Give us a brief on the company’s organic brand MBD Express.
MBD Express is the company’s organic brand which is based on offering experiential hospitality to guests in mid-market segment. We have already signed five properties in different states such as Delhi NCR, Mumbai & Goa and are looking to enter more aspirational markets in India. With MBD Express brand, we are aggressively looking at expansion in economy segment by going very lean and yet offering quality and professionalism in terms of guest experiences. Friendly, efficient and comfortable, the innovative MBD EXPRESS brand with its modern urban hotels meets the expectations of price-conscious business travellers and city tourists alike.
Traveling for business, a weekend getaway, or just needing a quick overnight stay, MBD Express Hotels will always be the best.MBD Express is a value-oriented business model backed by the strength of a well-recognized and regarded brand. Friendly, efficient, crafted and comfortable, the innovative MBD EXPRESS brand with its modern urban hotels meets all the expectations of price-conscious business travellers and city tourists alike.
7. Where do you see yourself taking the brand in the next 2-3 years?
Considering the thrust of domestic tourism and price sensitive demand, we as a Group will be doubling our efforts to expand our budget segment brand MBD Express as we see a pragmatic future and huge growth potential. We see this brand nurturing progressively in the years to come. Secondly, we would continue innovating our F&B services and deliver best in class hospitality services to our patrons.
Also, with price rationalisation, it is the right time to acquire hotels or pick some struggling projects available in distress .
With regards to our MBD Steigenberger brand as we envisage a great opportunity for expansion through management route as well.
