Co's Ginger brand of hotels to consider greenfield, leased rentals and shell conversion options to fuel its expansion drive
Roots Corporation, a Tata Group subsidiary that operates under Ginger brand of hotels, plans to add around 100 properties over the next three-to-four years, while looking to develop 6-7 hotels by the end of this fiscal.
P K Mohankumar, managing director and CEO, Roots Corporation said, "Around cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, etc, there could be around 50-60 micro markets. This offers us to look at the opportunities available in these markets through family-owned operating properties, either by management contract or through franchise model. Our strategic plan is to have 100 hotels over 3-4 years time."
He said that Ginger would consider greenfield, leased rentals and shell conversion options to fuel its expansion drive.
Though the possibilities in terms of greenfield, leased rentals or shell conversions are available across the country, the company is currently focused on Mumbai and Delhi.
"As of now, we have five hotels under leased rentals in Delhi and 1 in Mumbai at present. We have also tied up for 2 leased rental properties in Mumbai and 3 in Delhi," he added. Ginger currently has 27 owned and managed properties and three hotels under management contracts.
Mohankumar said that the branded economy and budget hospitality space requires 50,000 rooms whereas only 8,000 branded rooms are currently available. "Out of 8,000 rooms, we own around 3,000 rooms. To meet the requirements, there is a need for a differentiated policy catering to the needs of the mid-market, economy and budget categories. Mid-market, economy and budget hotels are the future of hospitality in India, especially for domestic tourism," he said, adding that the present industry policy for the entire hospitality segment is not conducive for the growth of mid-market, budget and economy hospitality space.
Mohankumar also said that long approval process has also made it difficult for economy and budget hoteliers to operate. "The government should bring down the approval process to three months instead of 1 year at present," he added.
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