Luxury Hotels Group to add 200 hotels in India this fiscal

UK-based Luxury Hotels Group, a collection of global hospitality properties, plans to add 200 hotels as members during the current fiscal as part of its expansion plans in the country. The group has 150 hotels ranging from three-star to five-star properties under its umbrella in India.

"We plan to add 200 more hotels as our members across India during the current fiscal year," Luxury Hotels group Managing Director Rahul Arora told PTI. These will be mainly smaller chains based out of India and independent hotels, he added.

"Cities that we are looking at are Chandigarh, Amritsar and Delhi/NCR in north, Pune, Bhopal, Aurangabad, Indore and Bhopal in west, Cochin and locations in Kerala in south and in east it will be Kolkata and north-eastern states," Arora said.

On the group's strategy for the member hotels, he said: "Our focus is on the marketing, branding, strategy and revenue management." India is a very important market for the company. It accounts for around 30 per cent of group's revenues and number of hotels, Arora said.

When being asked about the business model company follows here, he said: "We either work as a fixed retainer or take a percentage of the revenues that we generate."

The company is also focusing on the tier II and tier III cities for future growth, Luxury Hotels Group Director of Business Development Asia Amarpal Chandok said.

The expansion of the group's presence is an indication of the increasing importance of the India market, he added. Luxury Hotels group provides its hotelier