Global hospitality major Carlson, which runs 5-star hotel Radisson, plans to open 19 more hotels in India by the year-end and 100 by 2015 with a total expected headcount of 30,000 by then, a company official said.
The U.S.-based hotel chain currently employs around 10,000 people across its 34 hotels (3,234 rooms) in India.
“We plan to open 19 more hotels this calender year. These hotels will help generate 6,000 employment opportunities,” Carlson Hotels President and CEO Hubert Joly told PTI here.
The company has already signed management contracts for about 54 hotels, of which 19, with a total of 2,670 rooms, will open this year. The total project cost of these 19 hotels is estimated at around Rs. 2,250 crore.
Of these 19 hotels, 11 are Radisson to be opened in Agra, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Chennai, Ghaziabad, Goa, Greater Noida, Haridwar, Hyderabad, Ranchi and Rudrapur, Mr. Joly said.
While two Country Inns will come up at Gurgaon and Mussourie, one Park Inn will be opened in New Delhi (CBD) and five Park Plazas will open at Bangalore, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, and New Delhi (Dwarka).
Park Plaza is in 3-4 star hotel segment and Country Inn and Suites and Park Inn are in the mid-segment. About 90 per cent of the hotels are operated, globally, through management contracts and franchise model.
“We are quite optimistic about the India’s tourism and travel growth story. We see India as a strategic destination with enormous opportunity and hence plan to scale-up our operations here,” Mr. Joly said. Carlson also has a minority stake of 26 per cent in Country Development & Marketing Services (CDMS), promoted by Ranjan Bhatacharya. CDMS is the franchise partner for Country Inn and Suites.
“This the right time to expand in India as the GDP is growing at 8-9 per cent. Our focus will be equally on the luxury as well as the mid-scale segment (Rs 4,000-5,000 per night). Our aim is to be one of the largest players in the country,” Mr. Joly said.
The company’s initial focus would be in the Delhi- NCR region followed by the south and west and then the eastern region.
“With our strong brands we are also looking at investing more in terms of manpower. The hotels would be generating thousands of jobs every year,” he said, without giving any specific investment figure.”
Mr. Joly said it plans to open two Radisson hotels in Malad and Powai in Mumbai and one in Coimbatore in early-2012.
Carlson, which operates around 1,085 hotels globally across 77 countries, also operates the well-known TGI Fridays chain of restaurants.
It has 700 TGI outlets across 60 countries, including India.
