Ankit Gupta, the India CEO of hospitality technology platform Oyo, and Mandar Vaidya, the head of Oyo’s European operations, will both be moving on from the company.
25.08.2023 - 13:50 / skift.com / Asia Pacific / Christopher Nassetta / Peden Doma Bhutia / Alan Watts / Chris Nassetta / Waldorf Astoria
Marking the debut of Hilton’s luxury brand Waldorf Astoria in India, Chris Nassetta, president and CEO of Hilton, announced on Wednesday that Jaipur would be the first destination for the brand.
Waldorf Astoria Jaipur will join Hilton’s existing portfolio of 24 operating and 13 pipeline hotels and resorts across India bringing the company’s portfolio of brands in India to six.
Responding to why Hilton had not scaled up operations in India, Alan Watts, Asia Pacific president of Hilton, said, “Hilton has been patient in the India market. And now with the development of infrastructure and the scaling up of airlines and the huge domestic market in the country, we intend to replicate our China success in India.”
While Watts said that Hilton may be late compared to some of our competitors in market, it wasn’t intentional. “We missed the last two cycles, but we won’t miss this one. And like we did in China we have every intention of deploying the right brands in India. Objectively speaking, now is the time for Hilton to be fully focused.”
At the end of the first quarter this year, Hilton already has four signings in the country — two Double Tree, a Hilton and the Waldorf — and plans to announce 10 deals by the end of this year.
In 2008-2012, Hilton focused on getting China, the second largest lodging market in the world, right. “Around 15 years ago, we had five hotels in China, now we’re just sort of in the race with Marriott to get to 500 and we’re the fastest growing hotel company in China, one in every three hotels carries a Hilton flag,” said Watts to Skift.
Watts said Hilton had been waiting the right partner and the right time to bring its luxury brand to the India market.
Talking about the selection of Jaipur as the city for the launch of Waldorf Astoria in India, Watts said, “If you’re going to do uber luxury in the India market, you need to do it in Rajasthan, so you can attract high end weddings and conferences because that’s where the true dollar value is.”
Watts also said that while the India hospitality market may feel big, it’s tiny by comparison to what it’s going to be as it is set to be the third largest lodging market in the world.
The Hilton brands that are currently present in India include Conrad, Hilton, DoubleTree by Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn and Hampton by Hilton.
Calling India a key market for Hilton, Nassetta said Waldorf Astoria Jaipur will set a new benchmark for luxury in Jaipur.
The Indian luxury market is expected to reach the $200 billion-mark by 2030, according to a Bain and Company report. The number of millionaires in India are projected to grow by 105 percent by 2026, as per a Credit Suisse report.
“This signing reaffirms our commitment to working with strong local
Ankit Gupta, the India CEO of hospitality technology platform Oyo, and Mandar Vaidya, the head of Oyo’s European operations, will both be moving on from the company.
The overall nights booked on Airbnb in India have grown by almost 70% in 2022 as compared to pre-pandemic levels while domestic nights grew by 110%.
Marriott, the leading hotel company in India, is set to introduce its 17th brand in the country — Moxy.
From today’s Daily Lodging Report newsletter: Nikkei Asia published an article on Hilton planning to expand its luxury offerings in Asia. Hilton will be bringing its Waldorf Astoria brand to Malaysia, Vietnam, India, and other countries for the first time as part of its plans to open 25 new luxury hotels in the Asia Pacific region over the next few years. That’s up from the 33 luxury hotels it currently runs in the Asia Pacific.
Clearly Vinod Kannan, the CEO of Vistara, may have had to field this question on the possible Vistara-Air India merger one too many times.
Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines have agreed to consolidate Air India and Vistara by March 2024.
Indian carrier Vistara reported its first-ever net profit for the quarter ending December 2022, according to statement from the airline on Monday.
Having started as a mom-and-pop travel agency, EaseMyTrip today figures among the largest online travel agencies (OTA) in India with a market capitalization of $1.1 billion while being completely bootstrapped.
The Tatas will let go of Indian full-service carrier Vistara as they look to merge the airline with the more “internationally-recognized” Air India, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said on Monday.
India is expected to overtake Germany to become the world’s third most powerful travel and tourism market by 2032, according to World Travel and Tourism Council’s Economic Impact Research.
India could rank among the top three markets for outbound travel in the coming years, according to Omri Morgenshtern, CEO of online travel platform Agoda said while speaking to media in India during his recent visit to the country. Indian travellers are increasingly becoming more important to many countries and will become second to China in terms of spending in Asia, he said. An earlier Skift article had reported how the time is ripe for India — which already ticks most of the boxes as a suitable candidate to take over from China as the largest travel source market — to enter the dragon’s space. In India, online travel booking is growing at a faster pace after the pandemic in comparison to other global markets, outpacing the Asia Pacific market, said Morgenshtern. The total transaction value in travel almost hit pre-Covid levels in 2022. “Since 2019, the rank of importance of Indian tourists for Thailand for example has risen from 10th to 6th. I expect it to become more important in the coming years, not only to Thailand but to many countries in APAC,” he added. Morgenshtern also sees a lot of potential for inbound tourism in India. While India’s inbound is growing slower than outbound travel, he believes it is going to see fast growth in the coming years.
Taking note of the massive delay in processing visas, the U.S. is taking steps to reduce wait times for Indians. The U.S. Consulate in Mumbai has brought in consular officers from around the world to help out with visa operations. “All hands on deck to reduce visa wait times! Our incredible team of consular officers have temporarily left their regular duties around the world, from the State Department in DC to the U.S. Consulate Naha, to help out with visa operations in Mumbai,” the consulate in Mumbai tweeted. Reducing visa delays has been a priority for the U.S. consulates in India as wait times for visitor visas are still around 614 days. The U.S. Embassy in India processed over 100,000 visa applications in January 2023, their highest total in a single month and the highest in any month since July 2019, according to media reports.