Hyatt‘s Revenue per available room (RevPAR) in India rose 13% in the first half of this year, driven by a 25% growth in weddings, said Sunjae Sharma, MD, India and SouthWest Asia at Hyatt Hotels Corporation. The hotel chain currently has 52 hotels with over 10,000 rooms and plans to double this to 100 hotels in the next five to six years.
Hyatt records 33% revenue growth in 2023
In an interview with Economic Times, Sunjae Sharma said Hyatt isn’t aiming to be the biggest hotel chain in India but wants to focus on ‘experiential luxury’ and ‘strategic expansion’.
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“The 13% RevPAR growth in the first half of this year is over the 33% revenue per available room available growth we had last year. New hotels have come up in locations such as Aurangabad, Haridwar, Goa, Bengaluru and Ballygunge. We will also launch new hotels in Kasauli and Ghaziabad besides a new hotel in Dhaka,” Sharma further added.
Talking about strategies, Sharma said, “Apart from our strategy of the four Ls and one W, which is luxury, leisure, lifestyle, loyalty and wellness, we are focusing on cities where people are going and where it makes business sense. There are hotels opening in the hills, there is Bodh Gaya, more rooms have been added in Goa.”
Hyatt to launch ‘The Grand Showroom’ for events, celebrations
Meanwhile, Hyatt is introducing The Grand Showroom, a new event and celebration space at The Grand Hyatt Mumbai. Sharma said they might introduce similar spaces in other hotels for both small and large events with an experiential luxury focus.
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“When we opened the Grand Hyatt twenty years ago, we said this is a multi dimensional lifestyle destination. Now we are saying how do we exemplify our dedication to experiential hospitality,” he said. “This space has been designed for both personal social events as well as corporate events. This is about creating drama. Creating a show. This is about personalisation and this space has been designed to completely alter the experience that you get in an events space,” Sharma explained.
Furthermore, Hyatt announced a ‘strategic collaboration’ with the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) this month. The partnership will give World of Hyatt members ‘exclusive access’ to ‘unique experiences’ and ‘privileges’ at NMACC. Sharma said that experiential offerings are a key part of Hyatt’s strategy in India
“It could be going to the Robbers Cave in Dehradun, or going for a snake boat race in Kerala. People are looking at experiences and we are focusing on that at our properties. We are also looking at opening 8-10 hotels every year,” he mentioned.
