Hotels in India

NEW DELHI: Worldhotels that provides sales, marketing and technology services to hotels, is aiming to develop ten hotels under 'Worldhotel' brand in India by 2014, as a part of its newly launched brand license programme across the globe.

The brand license programme from Worldhotels offers a host of services, including marketing, training, sales, revenue management to enable owners to develop and manage their hotels in a professionally to match global standards.

"Globally, we are aiming to develop and support 50 hotels under the Worldhotel brand by the end of 2014 and out of that about 10 will be in India," Worldhotels Asia Pacific Vice President Roland Jegge told PTI.

The company has already tied up for a 75-room property in Chandigarh for the same and is holding talks with hotel owners in cities such as Pune and Hyderabad as a part of the plan to create an inventory upwards of 2,000 rooms by 2014.

With the targetted portfolio expansion, India is likely to contribute 5 per cent to Worldhotels global sales by 2014, compared to about 2 per cent at present, he added.

Jegge did not disclose the company's revenues, but said on an annual basis, the 450 hotels worldwide that subscribe to the firm's services collectively generate "two million room nights at a rate of USD 200 per night" from bookings made through World hotels' channel.

Asia Pacific as a region contributes about 20 per cent to the company's total sales.

When asked about the brand license fee, Jegge said:"The brand license fee is lower than a typical management contract. Broadly speaking, we charge USD 100,000 one time agreement fee along with a 5 per cent of room revenue."

Besides, extending its brand license programme to India, the company is also investing in increasing its sales force here and in marketing and promotion initiatives.

"We will hire more sales and revenue management people for our India office. Next year we will double our investments in India compared to last year," Jegge said without giving specific details.

In April this year, Worldhotels had opened an office in India.

Worldhotels currently provides its services to ten hotel properties in India, including the two Claridges hotels in Delhi and NCR, The Sahara Star in Mumbai and Aamby Valley in Pune.

In China, the company has plans to develop over 75 hotels under the 'Worldhotel' brand in the next ten years.

Founded in 1970, the company provides marketing, sales, training, distribution and e-commerce services to hotels worldwide.

In addition to its classic 'affiliation model', the group has also launched a new 'full service' branding solution for independent hotels, an alternative to standard franchise contracts.

With a presence in 250 destinations in 65 countries globally, Worldhotels has 450 affiliate properties in its portfolio at present.

More at: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-11-16/news/30405666_1_claridges-hotels-hotel-properties-brand