The Hindu Business Line : The Indian Rendezvous

Rendezvous Hotels & Resorts International, a subsidiary of The Straits Trading Company Ltd, Singapore, is a growing brand in the Asia-Pacific region and is expanding into West Asia and China. It announced plans on Friday to enter India with both its hotel brands that cater to the middle and the luxury segment. The company has tied up with a local developer, XS Real Properties, with presence in the residential and hospitality segment.

The Straits Trading Company, listed in Singapore, is a S$1.8-billion group with diversified interest in metals and minerals, real-estate and hospitality. Rendezvous Hotels operates a chain of 19 hotels spread across Australia, Singapore, China and West Asia. It now plans to set up 10 hotels in India over the next three years.

India, says Mr Alan Featherby, Chief Executive, Rendezvous Hotels, is a dynamic market and any operator in the region cannot afford to overlook India. He shares some insights with Business Line on the company’s plans and reasons for entering India through a joint venture.

Excerpts from the interview:

You said Rendezvous Hotels usually goes ahead on its own in its expansion programme but in India you have tied up with a local partner and opted for a joint venture, why?

We just felt that in India we would need a local partner as we were not comfortable about operating effectively by going it ourselves. It is just the way things work here and because of cultural issues. In China and West Asia, we have been able to go ahead by ourselves.

More specifically…

Just that on the business development side, for finding properties and identifying markets, it is important to have a local partner. We found that knowing how the system works and personal relationships is probably more important here than it is in West Asia or China. In China, for instance, it is definitely a different situation.

What segment of the market to do you cater to?

We have two brands — Marque is quite a popular brand, it is a boutique hotel, funky and contemporary. Our mainstream brand is the Rendezvous, which has been very well received and growing fast.

We are about to open one in Kuala Lumpur with 400 rooms, one in Auckland with 450 rooms, and one in Shanghai, a 400-room hotel, and a second one there is to be a Marque hotel.

Rendezvous hotels are typically 200-plus rooms in the four-star category, though depending on the market we may do some smaller hotels. The Marque boutique hotels are usually smaller with 80-150 rooms.

How do you see development in the Indian market?

In India it would be the Rendezvous, our mainstream brand. We plan to do about 10 hotels over the next three years and hope to establish our brands in all the major cities Chennai, Bangalore… and in places where we find the opportunities.

The joint venture here is a hotel management company that will tie up with developers and property owners here.

We are entering India, because as a strong regional player with an international hotel brand we cannot afford not to have a presence in India.

The economy is a bit slow here for now but it continues to be dynamic and we feel it is a good time to be here. The demand from this segment is growing and we feel there are huge opportunities to be exploited from this market.

Both our brands are targeted at the middle, business and luxury segments which present the largest opportunities in India, where, for now, the five-star segments seem to dominate.

Feedback to blproperty@thehindu.co.in

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