Louvre Hotels Group’s unit in India, Sarovar Hotels, has planned up to 80 new projects over the coming years, according to a senior company official.
Ajay K Bakaya, chairman of Sarovar Hotels, said, “Highway hotels and resort-concept properties close to cities, within a three-four hour journey, are a new high-growth segment for hospitality,” highlighting a shift in the brand’s strategy to align with the massive road development wave sweeping the country.
“Around 10,000 km of national highways are being constructed annually,” said Bakaya, underscoring that such highway development was unprecedented. “It is connecting places, and creating opportunities for highway hotels and resorts closer to cities,” he added.
Sarovar Hotels, a major player in the booming hotel industry in India, operates around 135 hotels across 35 locations in the country. It is a part of the Nanterre, France-headquartered Louvre Hotels Group, which is a unit of the Chinese hotel-hospitality conglomerate Jin Jiang International Holdings.
“There are 80 new hotel projects lined up,” said the Sarovar Hotels chairman. The company looks to add 15 to 20 hotels every year “over the next few years”, he said.
“We expect to cross 150 hotels by 2025, with a total of 12,000 keys. However, a limited number of these upcoming properties will be under the highway hotels and resorts segment,” Bakaya elaborated.
The chairman also expressed his hope that the hospitality sector would receive infrastructure status in the upcoming union budget, given that it would help them get access to longer-term credit lines for further development.
Currently, the corporate arm accounts for 70 per cent of Sarovar Hotels’ total revenue in India. “This may marginally decline to around 65 per cent as resorts and highway motels contribute more in the coming years,” said Bakaya.
