Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, the world’s largest hotel franchisor, is betting big on India’s air travel market, with Dimitris Manikis, the company’s president for Europe, Middle East, Eurasia, and Africa, anticipating a surge of 300 million domestic travelers in the next six years.
“I aim to capture that market. If we establish a strong presence here, these travelers will also choose to stay at our properties overseas. It’s not solely about the domestic travel market; there will also be millions of middle-class, Generation Z, and Generation Y Indian travelers exploring the world,” he commented.
Manikis added, “IndiGo is considering flights to destinations like Tblisi, Baku, and Vietnam. We are the leading hotel group in Georgia. With seven weekly flights bringing Indians to Georgia, the potential for us is immense. We also rank as the second-largest hotel group in Azerbaijan, presenting another significant opportunity for us.”
He expressed optimism about India’s potential, noting that India’s own confidence in its future is a key factor driving his bullish outlook.
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“India’s GDP growth, its stability amid geopolitical events, substantial infrastructure improvements, and the growing middle class are all factors contributing to its promising outlook,” remarked Manikis.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts currently operates 59 hotels in India and has an additional 37 hotels in development, with intentions to launch 13 of them this year. The chain offers brands like Ramada by Wyndham, Ramada Encore by Wyndham, and Howard Johnson by Wyndham in India. This week, they inaugurated their Trademark Collection hotel in Amritsar. Future hotel locations in the pipeline include new properties in Ayodhya, Varanasi, Katra, and Gorakhpur.
“Spiritual tourism presents a significant opportunity across the entire Indian subcontinent. We are particularly enthusiastic about Nepal, where we currently operate one hotel with four more in development. We are also in the final stages of entering the Bhutan market, all aligning with our focus on spiritual tourism,” stated Manikis.
He mentioned that India ranks among the top three markets in Europe, Middle East, Eurasia, and Africa in terms of the number of hotels in the pipeline.
“We are in a favorable position here, but there’s room for improvement. Our goal is to accelerate our growth. While we are the largest hotel group in China with approximately 1,500 hotels, our competitors have over 100 hotels in India,” stated Manikis. “Among the top five international brands, we currently rank somewhere in the middle. We aim to expand more rapidly, enter new markets, and introduce new brands.”
Manikis said the company has had “remarkable” development for its Trademark brand in Europe and believes India holds great potential for it. “Trademark is a soft brand created for individual hotels that want to stay true to their own identities and names while taking advantage of global distribution and support networks. The Earth Amritsar – Trademark Collection by Wyndham, for example, is still the hotel’s original name and identity in Amritsar. We also intend to launch the Vienna House brand in the Indian market.”
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