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Notwithstanding the global economic outlook, “India is not in dire straits”. Though the country is currently witnessing certain difficulties, there are still many business and leisure travellers flying into and out of India, says Mr Peter Fulton, Managing Director of Hyatt International (South West Asia).
The global macroeconomic scenario will impact India. There may be a drop in traffic. “But it's only an economic blip,” he says. Besides, if the room supply increases, obviously demand will need to catch up. It may take two or three years, but, after that, “I see a tremendous opportunity to grow in India,” he said.
According to him, even smaller towns such as Raipur and heritage towns such as Hampi will prosper in the long term. “Look at India now. Compared with what it was 15 years ago, it is amazing. It has changed dramatically. There is a great potential. The future has to be rosy,” said Mr Fulton, who served in the mid-90s at Hyatt Regency in Delhi, Hyatt's oldest property in India.
Mr Fulton was in India recently to oversee the opening of its premium offering, the Park Hyatt in Hyderabad, a 185-room property, and also to see the progress of the 201-room Park Hyatt in Chennai. The latter property may open only later this year. Answering a question on whether Park Hyatt and Hyatt Regency in Chennai will cannibalise on each other, Mr Fulton says they are two different products. The brand positioning and rack rates of Park Hyatt will be superior to that of Hyatt Regency. He, however, said the offer price of any product is a matter of demand and supply. “In Dubai, there are times when the offer price at Park Hyatt is lower than that of Grand Hyatt,” he explained, giving an example.
Hyatt currently has nine properties in India. It has five properties in the pipeline. That includes Park Hyatt in Chennai, its ‘limited-service' product Hyatt Place in Hampi (Karnataka), Hinjewadi (Maharashtra) and Whitefield (Bangalore), and a Hyatt at Raipur. This will add another at least 1,250 rooms to the brand's current inventory of 2,800 in India.
The company is “seriously hunting” for more properties – both greenfield and conversion projects. “We hope to open at least five to six hotels every year, for the next five years,” said Mr Fulton.
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