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Thiruvananthapuram June 26 The Mumbai-based Hotel Leela Venture Ltd is now focusing on attracting more visitors from the US with an aim to promote ayurvedic massage-based therapies in that country.

According to Mr Peter Leitgeb, President, The Leela Palaces and Resorts, business travellers from the US account for a large number of the guests at the company's hotels in Bangalore and Mumbai.

There is also a growing interest in alternative medicine in the US, he pointed out.

Given this background, the company is looking at promoting its hotels, especially the Leela Kempinski Kovalam in Kerala, as a destination for ayurvedic oil massage-based therapies, he explained. Simultaneously, it is also looking at creating awareness in the US about the benefits of ayurveda, he added. For over a decade, ayurveda has been an integral part of the company's spa offering at its hotel in Goa, said Capt C. P. Krishnan Nair, Chairman, Hotel Leela Venture Ltd.

In response to the growing demand for ayurvedic therapies at its Goa hotel, the company is now adding 10 new `ayurveda suites' in the property, he stated.

Ayurveda Treatments

The investment in each `ayurveda suite' is expected to be around Rs 1 crore. The demand for ayurvedic therapies in the spa at the company's hotel in Bangalore is also very high, he added.

The company is looking at a communication and branding campaign to build its presence in the US market and promote the Leela group's hotels as a destination for ayurveda treatments, Mr Leitgeb said.

As the first step, the company is budgeting between $60,000 and $80,000 for this process, he added.

Dr G. Gopinathan, a New York-based neurologist who is working with Hotel Leela Venture on its plans to promote ayurveda in the US, said that there is potential to promote ayurvedic oil massages in the US.

Oil massages have a sound physiological base and can be explained to a modern scientific audience, he claimed. Hotel Leela Venture should look at developing and promoting a `Leela' brand of oil massages, he added.

Management Contract

Meanwhile, Hotel Leela Venture has recently appointed a general sales agent in Singapore to cover the Singapore, Malaysia and Korea markets. The company's hotel in Gurgaon, which it will operate on a management contract, will open early next year.

It is also in the process of adding new properties in Udaipur, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune.

The company has also recently acquired a plot for a hotel in New Delhi.

More Stories on : Strategy | Hotels | Alternative Medicines

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