Radisson Hotels will soon launch its luxury brand Radisson Collection in India. The hospitality company is in advance conversation with multiple partners, said a top official. It is looking at the conversion of palace properties and multi-hundred key hotels in metro cities.

Speaking to BusinessLine , Zubin Saxena, Managing Director, and Vice-President Operations, Radisson Hotel Group South Asia, said that looking at the growing demand for luxury hotels in India, Radisson Group believes that it is time that the company could include Radisson Collections in its India portfolio. Currently, at least seven brands under the Radisson Group umbrella are present in India.

“We are actively looking to tap the luxury hotel markets. We have Radisson Collection which caters to that segment. In India, we are in several discussions with partners. We are looking at palace conversions in Rajasthan and options for a large city hotel in Mumbai or Delhi. While we don’t have a definite timeline, it is very high on our priority list for India,” he said.

Overseas presence

Radisson Collection hotels have its presence in the UK, Spain, Belgium, Italy, as well as other key locations across Europe, West Asia and Asia including the brand’s upcoming openings in destinations like Milan and Seville. It has approximately 24 hotels globally with three in the pipeline.

According to Hotelivate’s report, luxury hotels have been one of the fastest-growing segments in India. It said that hotel companies are likely to add 11 per cent more keys by FY26 in India. The latest luxury hotel brand to enter India is Raffles. It has already opened its first palace-converted hotel in Udaipur and is set to inaugurate its next Jaipur.

The US-based Radisson Group entered the Indian market in 1998. It has recently added its 100th hotel in India. Since then it has entered 60 cities. It has launched seven brands including Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson, Country Inn & Suites by Radisson among others.

It adds at least 10-12 hotels each year and signs at least 13-15 hotels.

Speaking about Radisson Red, which caters to India’s young audience, he said that the company plans to inaugurate its first Red in Mohali in Q4 of FY21.

Whereas Radisson Individuals, the company’s soft hotel conversion brand. Radisson has on Radisson Individuals in Imphal and the other two in Katra and Bengaluru are likely to be inaugurated next year.

“Several standalone hotels in India see a tapering trajectory in their revenues when a renowned brand enters the market. Radisson lends its name to those hotels, which allows the hotel access to a robust distribution network and services,” he said.

F&B segment

Speaking about making its food and beverage segment more robust, Saxena said the F&B segment is a key component of the Group’s operations is all set to receive a facelift with a pan-India expansion of Meetha, its sweet shop brand along with the first outlet to be opened in Mumbai this year.

“It is our foray into the traditional Indian sweet market. It is a huge market. Meetha by Radisson is our unique brand offering for our Indian sweet tooth. We launched it last year in Delhi. It was a great success. We are now looking to expand the concept into 15 other locations pan-India,” he added.

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