Starwood, which was very much in the public eye through all of 2009, maintains is aggressive roll through this year as well; the focus is now on introducing its luxury brands the W and St Regis, into India.
Both the brands are poised to enter the cities of Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi. “It’s still on the drawing board, but Mumbai becomes our immediate focus. Our strategy is basically to penetrate into the primary markets where the brands are not represented yet,” said Nikhil Manchharam, vice president, acquisitions and development, Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels and Resorts.
Starwood is also looking at emerging Tier II cities such as Coimbatore. Further, Manchharam thinks that Gujarat has potential that is untapped, so does Himachal Pradesh, and markets like Guwahati.
Speaking on Gujarat, Manchharam said: “With the regulatory environment becoming conducive to tourists, that should go a long way in getting business, although the cities of Vadodara and Ahmedabad are a bit saturated. Coimbatore is certainly a market that’s emerging, and I think Kerala has a lot of potential for the resort end of the market, we’re looking at upscale and luxury here,” he added.
Starwood is also considering the hill stations of Lonavla and Mahableshwar – which hitherto operated pretty much on the traditional mom-and-pop hotel models – for its upper-upscale brand like Le Meridien.
“We’re trying to establish domestic markets; a lot of this will be backed by domestic tourists travelling across India, which hasn’t been there before. Rajasthan is one market that could see leisure business as a good driver; Udaipur has great potential,” said Manchharam.
