Carlson remains unlikely to renew the arrangement as the company feels it has gained enough insight into the Indian hotel and hospitality market and prefers to manage its own brands in the country directly. It has been leaning more towards the management contract model of late, which yields higher revenues.
Global hospitality group Carlson owns the Radisson, Regent and Country Inn & Suites brands besides interest in restaurants and cruises. It manages the Radisson brand on its own but Sarovar Hotels and Resorts which runs properties like Hotel Marine Plaza, a sea-facing property on Marine Drive in Mumbai and Hotel Park Plaza in Gurgaon, has been given the master franchisee for its Park Plaza and the Park Inn hotel brands. "It is highly unlikely that the arrangement would see a renewal," a source disclosed according to a news report by TOI.
'Carlson, like most international hotel chains would like to control and manage its brands, considering India is an important growth market. Also Carlson has gained enough understanding of the market in the many years it has been operating here,' said the source.
When contacted, K B Kachru, Vice president for South Asia for Carlson refused to comment on the development, but not denying the report either, it is reported
Radisson opened its first hotel near the airport in Delhi about 13 years ago. It has been on an expanding spree since then and presently runs 38 properties in India under this banner.
The change in relationship between Indian hoteliers and foreign players should not be seen as a problem but as a sign of a maturing market, according to an industry consultant. Similar changes have already been taking places in the hotel industry. For instance, only recently ITC Hotels and Starwood Hotels changed the terms of their collaboration after 30 years of alliance. Oberoi Hotels owned by East India Hotels broke their ties with Hilton which has since joined hands with DLF.
It would be interesting to watch how the contracts with the ongoing projects will be handled. For instance, Hotel Majestic Park Plaza, the only five-star hotel in Ludhiana is currently upgrading its property by adding 25 rooms to exclusively cater to business and corporate travellers and aiming for a five-star deluxe classification.
Meanwhile, Mumbai-based Sarovar Hotels and Resorts opened the country's first branded budget hotel Hometel last week and plans to open eight more such hotels across India by the year end to tap the mid-upper middle level businessmen and holiday makers.
Apart from the existing 35 hotels under the Sarovar banner, the company is setting up 33 hotels, which are in various stages of development. Another 30 plus hotels are on the drawing board. By the end of 2012, the company will have around 100 hotels and manage a room inventory of close to 100,000 rooms according to Anil Madhok, the Managing Director of the company.
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