Radisson plans to open hotels in religious destinations

Radisson Hotel Group, which has about 90 operational hotels in India, is eyeing religious destinations in the country and aims to reach 200 properties by 2020 in this market. “One of our core strategies is to grow in religious destinations. We are finding these destinations stable for us, such as Haridwar, Varanasi, Katra, Tirupati and we will plan in more destinations,” said Raj Rana, CEO, South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group.

In the India market, the group currently has a total of 140 hotels with 90 operational. This year, the group is set to launch the first Radisson Red property in India and recently introduced Radisson Collection in India. Radisson also sees potential in the religious destinations for growth.

“Earlier we had two companies, Carlson and Rezidor, with this new brand we have realigned both the companies. We are now one integrated global company. The strategy was to bring in the name of our most powerful brand into the corporate name which signals that we will be able to drive better value for our owners. Our vision is to be one of the top three operators in the next five years,” said Katerina Giannouka, President, Asia Pacific, Radisson Hotel Group.

“The 200 hotels will be in the next five years including those under development. So, around 130 will be operational and 70 will be in the pipeline. We have a Joint Venture (JV) with Bestech for building and operating 49 Park Inn by Radisson and Radisson Red hotels in North and Central India. The JV is progressing very well. As part of the JV, we will be opening our first Radisson Red in Mohali, Chandigarh later this year,” said Raj Rana.

The Group has launched the Radisson Collection brand in India in affordable luxury segment. As the market matures in India, we will look to open more brands here. At the entry level, we have a brand called Prizeotel an economy product with a very strong design. Currently, this brand is in Europe and possibly this could be a brand which we will look to open in India. Our next five year strategy is to finely sharpen our brand architecture. We are looking more at the lifestyle segment, Radisson Red will be that brand,” Giannouka added.

In India the expansion of the group is based on the hub and spoke model. “We follow the Hub and Spoke strategy in India. This plays into expanding our portfolio reach into all markets within two to three hours drive to the major markets. As the highways are improving in India, opening hotels along the highways is a key part of our strategy in the India market,” Rana said.