PMAY Empowering India Awards 2019:

Aavaas Changodar (Ahmedabad) was awarded the best project in EWS category (State – Gujarat) for Aavaas Ahmedabad.

Aavaas Miyapur (Hyderabad) was awarded the most well planned upcoming project in LIG category (State – Telangana).

Lack of access to safe sanitation, healthcare facilities, clean drinking water and clean and hygienic living conditions are among the key issues that plague construction labourers which has an adverse impact on their health, according to data by Ajeevika Bureau.

13th November 2018, Tuesday 

Importance Of Inclusive Development-Housing Colony By Hatch Workshop

As part of ‘Aavaas’ by Nebula, the project asserts the importance of inclusive development. The project is supported by Aajeevika, Saath and 4th Wheel for advocacy, healthcare and sanitation.

The Changodar housing colony, Ahmedabad by Hannah Broatch and Mason Rattray of Hatch Workshop is a structure for migrant workers with 72 dismantle-and-reassemble home units.

As part of ‘Aavaas’ by Nebula, the project asserts the importance of inclusive development. The project is supported by Aajeevika, Saath and 4th Wheel for advocacy, healthcare and sanitation.

4th September 2018, Tuesday 

Nebula Infraspace is an organization working towards creating inclusive, affordable and sustainable housing in India. Through their Aavaas initiative, they aim to provide affordable housing to all segments of the society, and extend this ideology towards the construction workers of their housing projects, as well. Since the inception and establishment of Aavaas, two projects have been initiated, in Changodar (Ahmedabad) and Miyapur (Hyderabad) with over 6000 affordable apartments under construction, and approximately 5000 in the development stage.

Through their belief in Affordable living, not just affordable housing, they are aiming to develop a business model that is socially impactful and sustainable, and as part of their CSR initiative, Aavaas by Nebula aims to provide decent living conditions to its construction workers and their families. They partnered with Hannah Broatch and Mason Rattray from Hatch Workshop to build a contextual adaptation of an Archiprix winning design for its innovative and self-sustaining infrastructure.

4th May 2018, Friday

Wyndham Hotel Group has expanded their footprint in India and in the regional market by forging strong partnerships both exclusive and non- exclusive in the last few years. From just a handful of hotel properties in 2010, the group has grown to a commanding presence with 35 hotels at the end of 2017. The hotel group has also signed 15 new hotels in the region in 2017 alone. Deepika Arora,  Regional Vice President – Eurasia, who has been steering Wyndham Hotel Group’s expansion spree in the regional   market,   in   an   interview   with   Hospitality  Biz   spoke   on company’s future plans which include bringing the ‘iconic’ brands from their international portfolio into the market.

Q How was the year 2017 for Wyndham Hotels  in India and in the regional market? What  kind  of business trends did  you  see emerging in the  market which  would favour/affect adversely occupancy/ rates, etc. going forward?

2017  was  another  year  of  robust  growth  of  Wyndham  Hotel  Group.  We  saw significant  growth across our portfolio,  through the opening of 11 new hotels in India and neighbouring countries. Two-thirds of these new openings were in India, re-enforcing our presence in the country’s rapidly growing mid-market hospitality segment.

Our hotels in the region performed  at par with the industry  on indices such as occupancy rates, ARRs and RevPAR. We also performed well on quality audits, customer reviews as well as our Wyndham Rewards loyalty programme.

In addition, during 2017 Wyndham Hotel Group expanded its pipeline of new hotels in the region with 15 new signings. We also signed a non-exclusive development agreement with Neb   la Infraspace LLP to develop hotels under the Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham® brand. Under the agreement, we plan to develop at least 20 hotels across India over a period of 10 years. Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham is our extended-stay  brand, offering guests a home away from home. The brand will be well-positioned  to cater to the extended stay needs of travellers in India visiting pilgrimage circuits, leisure destinations and second home locations. The first Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham hotel will open in Dwarka.

Overall, the outlook of the hospitality industry in India looks positive. India has always piqued the interest of tourists from far corners of the world to explore its diverse landscape, rich history, ancient architecture, multi- cultural society, food and religion, low-cost wellness, sports and even cinema. In addition, a thriving economy has boosted  business  travel  and also led to a bourgeoning  middle-class  with disposable  income  giving momentum to domestic travel especially in the secondary and tertiary cities besides the metros.

The Indian market is becoming a lot more competitive with global hospitality chains expanding their footprint, which reiterates the potential of this growing market. We see an increasing demand for stay options that meet international standard at great value and believe that the mid-scale space will continue to experience strong growth with the upscale segment following closely behind. With a growing and diverse portfolio of hotels along the length and breadth of this exciting market, Wyndham Hotel Group is strongly positioned to meet this demand.

Q What is the current portfolio that Wyndham has in the India market,  and what kind  of growth and expansion are you looking at in India in the next couple of years?

Wyndham Hotel Group currently has 35 operational hotels with 3,258 rooms under the Ramada, Ramada Encore, Howard Johnson and Days brands in India. We aim to have 75 operational hotels in India by 2020 and plan to further expand our footprint in other high potential  countries  in the region by exploring  new opportunities.

Wyndham Hotel Group’s range of brand offerings is varied and flexible to meet the expectations of today’s dynamic traveller. As part of our development strategy in India, we are looking to expand our footprint into secondary and tertiary cities as well as potential leisure destinations. Our upcoming openings will add leisure locations like Kasauli and Lonavla; pilgrim destinations like Dwarka (Gujarat); and business locations like Ghaziabad,  Trivandrum,  Bhubaneshwar  and  more  to  the  existing  portfolio.  Our  goal  is  to  ensure  that wherever across India or the region travellers want to go, they can find a Wyndham Hotel Group hotel to meet their needs and their budget.

Q Wyndham’s India  portfolio is quite  limited and dominated by mid-market brands. When can we expect  more premium brands from  your  portfolio coming to India?

India’s hospitality industry is experiencing an up-cycle and the next spurt of growth is expected to come from the mid-market segment. The Indian market is also extremely cost-sensitive offering an excellent opportunity for mid-market hotel brands such as Ramada, which is well established in the country along with our other existing brands like Howard Johnson and Days.

Having said that, we also feel that the Indian market is ready to welcome more of our iconic brands and in the next two-three years, we will be introducing our namesake brands such as ‘Wyndham Grand’, ‘Wyndham’ and ‘Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham’.

Q Wyndham is one of the few international hotel companies which  do franchise business in India. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the model  in the Indian  conditions?

As  a  hospitality  powerhouse,  Wyndham  Hotel  Group  adopts  two  global  business  models  –  we  are  a franchiser of hotel brands but in many markets we also have a large hotel management business. We are happy to work with partners on a franchised  or managed basis, depending  on their business model and market of operations and what makes sense for the individual partnerships

In India, the franchise model has worked well for us and enabled us to establish a firm foothold. We grew from eight hotels in 2010 to 35 operational  hotels to date. The owner relationship  is always key for the success of the franchise model. Investing in forging trust by providing support and guidance to attract and retain customers is a common and an on-going endeavour. We work closely with each and every new hotel owner to introduce them to the brand’s philosophy and the basic brand standards to keep a consistent look and feel. However, in some cases, we do allow for certain customisation to cater to the local requirements or market dynamics

Q As  hotel  distribution is  disrupted by  modern technology including mobile, social  media,  etc. what kind  of investment is Wyndham Hotels  planning to make to stay ahead of the trends?

Wyndham Hotel Group is constantly innovating and researching to ensure a seamless guest experience. Technology  is  an  integral  part  of  this  objective  and  the  group  has  undertaken  a  global  technology transformation. We are one of the first global hospitality players to roll out a cloud-based central reservations and property management system streamlining processes for managing pricing and inventory, helping our hotel owners and staff to manage daily pricing and inventory more effectively and efficiently.

Q Wyndham Hotels  was in the race for acquisition of mid-market chains in India in the past. What is the current outlook of the company to acquisition opportunities to consolidate your  position in the market?

Acquisitions have enabled us to complement  our portfolio and accelerate our global scale. As a publicly- traded company, we do not comment on rumour or speculation, and therefore are not able to address the topic of any potential future acquisitions.

3rd January 2018, Wednesday

Total 1,600 rooms to be operational over 10 years; first hotel to come up at Dwarka in 2019

Multi-property deals seem to be coming back in fashion in the Indian hospitality industry. The new year’s first such deal is from NYSE-listed global hospitality major Wyndham Hotel Group (WHG) that has entered into a non-exclusive development agreement with Ahmedabad-based Nebula Infraspace LLP to develop 20 hotels across India. With a total of 1,600 guestrooms, this deal also marks the debut of Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham brand in the Indian hospitality market.

Wyndham did not share details about the amount of money that will be invested in developing these hotels as the funding is to be done by Nebula Infraspace and the hotel company is only lending its brand to these hotels. Also, there is no clarity on how Nebula Infraspace will go about funding, land parcels and developing the 20-odd properties.

Rakesh Israni, managing director – India investments, Pacifica Companies LLC and a director at Nebula Infraspace LLP, did not respond to calls and text messages seeking details pertaining to this agreement with Wyndham.

The Indian hospitality industry has witnessed many such multi-property deals most of which never really fructified. It will be interesting to see if the scenario will be any different this time around.

Hawthorn Suites according to Wyndham is the group’s benchmark extended-stay brand, offering guests a home away from home. These hotels will be positioned to cater to the extended stay needs of travellers in India visiting pilgrimage circuits, leisure destinations and second home locations. Interestingly, the first Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham hotel is scheduled to open in Dwarka some time next year.

Deepika Arora, regional vice president – Eurasia, Wyndham Hotel Group, said, “India’s hospitality industry, especially the mid-market segment, is thriving from strong growth in domestic travel, an increase in foreign tourists, as well as a booming airline industry supported by government-led initiatives.”

Wyndham has been aggressively pursuing India expansion and was in the race to acquire the 73-hotels strong Sarovar Hotels & Resorts portfolio back in 2016. While the hotel company had walked out of the deal citing valuation disagreement, it re-entered after Paris-based hotel chain, also Europe’s second largest group, Louvre Hotels Group (LHG) came into the play. Wyndham, however, lost the deal to Louvre, which is owned by China’s leading travel and tourism conglomerates Jin Jiang International, thereby missing an opportunity to establish a strong foothold in the Indian hospitality market.

With a global presence of more than 8,100 hotels in 78 countries, Wyndham expanded its footprint in India and neighbouring countries with the opening of 11 new hotels in 2017. In addition, the hotel company expanded its pipeline of new hotels in the region with 15 new signings. Two-thirds of the new hotel it opened were in India. Interestingly, Wyndham currently has 47 operational hotels in the Eurasia region, almost 75% of which are in India.

30th December 2017, Saturday

Wyndham Hotel Group, one of the world’s largest hotel companies, is now going to offer long term stay options at the main pilgrim cities in India.

The US-based group, which currently has 35 hotels in India with Ramada as its marquee brand, has tied up with a major Ahmedabad builder for taking this spiritual route to material success. “We have signed a non-exclusive development agreement with Ahmedabad-based Nebula Infraspace LLP to develop at least 20 hotels with 1,600 rooms over 10 years across India under the brand ‘Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham’. We will be offering extended stay which will be like a home away from home for pilgrims,” Deepika Arora, Wyndham Hotel Group’s regional VP (Eurasia), told TOI.

“Under this, we will cater to pilgrims and also look at some leisure destinations and second home locations. The first property will open in Dwarka, Gujarat, the city of Krishna. The others could be in pilgrim circuits like Tirupati. In the Indian context, extended stay will mean three to five days. The rooms will have a kitchenette where pilgrims can cook for themselves. The daily tariff will be about Rs 4,500-5,000. For people doing bulk five day bookings, there could be some reduction,” Arora said.

The pilgrim circuit is an integral part of Wyndham’s growth strategy in India where it plans to more than double its presence in the next three years. “In 2010, we had five hotels here. Now we are at 35 hotels with 3,258 keys (rooms). In the next three years, we should have 75 operating properties,” she said.

Wyndham’s current portfolio consists of a diverse range of brands like Ramada, Ramada Encore, Howard Johnson and Days Hotels. Over the next few years it plans to introduce additional brands, especially in the economy and mid-market segments.

Wyndham Hotel Group, which has 8,100 hotels in 78 countries, opened nine new hotels this year in and around India. It has 47 operational hotels in the Eurasia region, more than 75% of which are in India.

“India’s hospitality industry, especially the mid-market segment, is thriving from strong growth in domestic travel, an increase in foreign tourists, as well as a booming airline industry supported by government-led initiatives. Our goal is to ensure that wherever across India or the region that travellers want to go, they will find a Wyndham Hotel Group hotel to meet their needs and their budget,” said Arora.

The group’s newest hotels in India include Howard Johnson Kolkata, Ramada Darjeeling, Ramada Dehradun, Ramada Jammu City Centre, Ramada Plaza Chennai, Days Suites Bengaluru Whitefield and Ramada Ajmer.