Daiwik Hotels, which has launched its first four-star hotel in Rameshwaram, a popular pilgrim destination in South India in April 2012, as part of its expansion plan, will invest Rs 180 crore in setting up greenfield hotels, in pilgrim destinations across India over three to four years. While the hotel company has already started work on the 140-room four-star property in Tirupati, they have started scouting for locations in Dwarka, Bodhgaya, Banaras, Katra, etc.
Informing this in an interaction with Hospitality Biz in Delhi, Debashis Ghosal,
Managing Director & CEO, Daiwik Hotels said that pilgrim destinations are by and large ‘under-served’ in terms of quality accommodation and the company wanted to ‘fill this gap’. “About 60 to 65 per cent of domestic travel is for pilgrimage. But when it comes to quality accommodation, there is hardly any standardised product available currently in pilgrim destinations,” he added. The facilities and service delivery that Daiwik Hotels offer will be at par with any other four or five-star hotel, Ghosal informed.
Going forward, while continuing with investing in greenfield projects in pilgrim destinations, Daiwik Hotels is also keen on other business models that are ‘asset light’, like management contract, long term lease of existing properties, etc. “We are open to all models for future expansion. We have identified major pilgrim centres in the country, which would include centres of Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist religious importance for our future expansion,” he said. By 2015-16, Daiwik Hotels plans to have at least five greenfield hotels, and 10 to 12 managed/leased hotels with total inventory between 1200 and 1500 rooms across India.
As far as distribution is concerned, Ghosal said that the company has distribution tie-up with all the online travel agents, and offline agents, besides own website. The company would also be promoting their property through digital and social media channels in a major way, the CEO said. Besides the existing sales offices in Chennai and Kolkata, the company has plans to set up offices in Delhi and Mumbai as well.