THE LUXURY PINEAPPLE

By: Saheb Bagga

Witnessing continuous flow of money in stock market and millions of people trying there luck by investing in the public listed companies, Dalal street has an advise to offer. Keeping in mind the portfolio system it is very essential to add Hospitality shares in the kitty.

Before getting deep into the companies in the Indian market and benefits they have got to offer lets get an insight of the previous records of this luxury industry.

The hospitality sector contributes 7.5 % towards the GDP and is expected to grow upto 8-10 in the time span of two years.

The Foreign Direct Investments (FDI’s) have been growing at a pace of 20-22 % every year.

It generates 10% of employment opportunities in the nation.

India ranks 3rd amongst 184 nations (in 2016), in terms of travel & tourism’s total contribution to GDP. Therefore, I don’t feel that long term investors should withdraw their share from the hospitality market.

The growth of Hospitality sector is linked to the growth of various other sectors like primary ( Producing raw materials), Secondary (Manufacturing) and tertiary (Providing sales and services).

Due to sudden fall in the Tourism, the hospitality companies witnessed a sudden fall between FY 5-7 and FY 9-14. Tough, their hustle does not end here. Recently they witnessed curbs on liquor sale and GST rollout. Whereas, the operators expect a growth in 2018. This sector is one of the most crucial net foreign exchange earners for India.

Thus, having shares of hospitality companies in your portfolio could prove to be highly profitable, given the bright prospects of the sector.

The Indian Hotels (part of Tata Group) running the Taj Group of Hotels, Palaces, Resorts and Safaries is one such stock that has witnessed strong movement over the past five years.
Followed by the ITC ( Luxury and Welcome group),  EIH (Oberoi Hotel Group) and Lemon tree. 

Personally, I feel it is the IHCL and ITC that will make it to top as their parent companies (TATA & Indian Tobacco Company) are there for the backing when the bear hits the hospitality stocks. 

Considering the above points, it is entirely possible that investors holding shares of hospitality companies will be rewarded handsomely.

If you don’t wish to invest in single stocks; you may choose to invest in mutual funds, where there is a higher allocation of consumption related sectors, such as hospitality.

HAPPY INVESTING 

The Luxury Pineapple

***Signature of Hospitality***

A great day for IHCL, where they continue to run capital’s iconic Taj Mahal Hotel or popularly known as The Taj Mansingh, in an auction conducted by New Delhi’s Municipal Council (NDMC). IHCL had its 33 year lease expired in 2011 and since then they have been running the property on small extensions. The bid was originally suppose to be conducted on January 30, but could no materialise due to stiff terms and conditions put up by the potential competitors. Later the date was announced for June 19, however only IHCL was the only company in the battle field. July 20 ITC emerged as a competitor and NDMC preferred to continue the bid with only two players.

“We are delighted that the iconic Taj Mahal, New Delhi, which has been an important part of the cultural and historic fabric of the national capital will continue to remain a part of the IHCL family,” said CEO Puneet Chatwal, who closely supervised the bidding process.

Previously Taj paid Rs. 3.94 cr per month ( i.e 17.25 % of gross turnover) as the licence fee and ended the latest bid on Rs. 7.03 cr (i.e 32.50% gross turnover). Therefore, this implies a 78.4% jump in the licence fee.  NDMC officials said they will now expedite proceedings against CJ International, operator of the Le Meridien Hotel, and Bharat Hotels, which runs The Lalit, to pursue similar e-auctions for the hotel properties as it can realise a much higher market value for them.

Finally, in an effort to raise more revenue, NDMC decided to find a new operator through an auction, giving Indian Hotels the right to first refusal. This was challenged by Indian Hotels before the Delhi High Court and then in the Supreme Court. The apex court gave a go-ahead for the auction, turning down Indian Hotels’ plea to extend its lease term.

                                                       ***THE LUXURY PINEAPPLE***

                                                                   Signature of Hospitality…

AccorHotels, Europe’s biggest hotels group, and Qatar firm Katara Hospitality announced plans to set up a $1 billion investment fund targeting the hotels and hospitality sectors in sub-Saharan African countries.

The fund will amount to up to $500 million in equity, of which Katara Hospitality and AccorHotels will contribute respectively up to $350 million and $150 million over the next 5-7 years, with additional financing capacity reached through leverage and co-investments.

AccorHotels and Katara Hospitality added that the fund would target greenfield projects, brownfield projects and conversions of existing hotels through acquisitions.

Having been present for over 40 years in Africa, we also know that there are increasing and sizeable needs for quality hospitality,” said AccorHotels chairman and chief executive Sebastien Bazin.

“Through this fund, we will match the expertise of Katara Hospitality together with AccorHotels’ world leading brand portfolio to accelerate our dynamic growth trajectory in the sub-Saharan region,” added Bazin.

AccorHotels has recently been on an acquisition spree, buying a 50 percent stake in U.S. hospitality mogul Sam Nazarian’s upmarket SBE Entertainment Group last month, and expressing an interest in buying a minority stake in Air France KLM.

Previous acquisitions under AccorHotels’ chief executive Bazin, who took over in 2013, include London’s Savoy Hotel, The Plaza in New York, the Raffles Hotel in Singapore and Australian hotel group Mantra.

Imagine yourself as the owner of a global hospitality empire with 148 properties in 49 capitals and financial hubs across Asia, Europe, UAE and Africa. But, what if I say that there is no full stop to your success and your company being such a big shot in the market and one of the companies not fearing Airbnb, is associated with the luxury automobile establishment Mercedes – Benz. This will be like a dream come true for most of you. Whereas, Choe Peng Sum is one man who believes, ‘ When a really big dream shows up, grab it.’ All this I asked you to dream about is his style of changing the face of the hospitality industry.  

Choe Ping Sum is the Founder & CEO of Frasers Hospitality. The company Is into luxury serviced apartments started in 1998 and has grown from 418 residences in Singapore to more than 23,400 keys worldwide with expected addition of 6,600 rooms by 2019. Coming on to the point when Frasers Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. witnessed a big financial boom when Mercedes – Benz shook hands and came into partnership, this time a bench mark was set. Two absolutely different industries came together and formed Mercedes – Benz Living @ Frasers. The room interiors are specifically designed to give Mercedes experience outside the car. Working in sync with Mercedes’s design team the shape, texture, colour and material of the car was interpreted into a room. From fabric of room’s curtains to Swarovski’s chandelier, every aspect is worked on by detailing to give the sense of high-tech comfort. The central element of the design is an undulating “Black Magic Wall,” an architectural feature as sleek and shiny as an S-Class sedan. That wall is reminiscent of MB’s recent foray into luxury aircraft interiors, though the longer-haul aspects of apartment living bring the design a little more down to earth.

 Lightning echo’s from the head lamps and coffee table seems to be moving at a faster speed. Just to make up to your perfect vacation with your loved one or to motivate you to win, when on a business tour. All you need is a big bundle of dollars in your bag to avail this. Looking into the market of apartment hotels, there is as such no tough competition to Mercedes Living @ Frasers. This collaboration did not only bring together two innovative multinational companies, but also united the two business natures and brand values around the customers.

Featuring defines unique living, dinning and bedroom area with private terrace to spend beautiful evenings. A key design element is the signature S-Class grey-silver leather. This is featured prominently in the elegant sofa in the living area, the headboard above the bed, the integrated bench as well as in the indulgent Shrimp-Chair. The lighting above the bed echoes the headlamps of signature Mercedes-Benz cars, with a custom-designed chandelier made of Swarovski crystals that are also found in the actual headlights of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class coupe.

Anyone can be a winner, but important is to leave back your impression & that is what Mercedes – Benz living @ Frasers is up to. With One property in Singapore and other in London, Frasers Group is all set with the design to launch their third property in UAE. Mr Choe Peng Sum is all there changing the way we look at apartment hotels and getting his name in top 10 entrepreneurs of hospitality industry by Forbes and The Business Times.  

American multinational, Marriott International with headquarters in Maryland was started by JW Marriott led by his son Bill Marriott as the Executive Chairman and Arne Sorenson as the President and CEO.

It has more than 6,500 properties with 1.2 million rooms in 127 countries followed by 195000 inventory in development pipeline.

Talking of another flagship brand in the hotel world, Starwood with headquarters in Stamford is now a subsidiary brand of Marriott. On November 16, 2015 the current parent company announced the purchase for $13.6 Billion. This deal was further finalised on September 23, 2016.

The challenges are increasing and technology is changing the way we live and travel. Times like these call for leadership and vision. This further led Marriott to be the LARGEST HOTEL COMPANY in the world of hotels.

We all witnessed this change, but very few took it as a management learning than just gong through the news. Entrepreneurs might find this interesting. There are 2 major take aways for these avant- grade :

• MARKET SPIN 

After every merger, people in the market and near make their own assumptions and critical analysis. Just the way we participate in political discussions. But, despite of all the   announcements sounding like marketing spin, Marriott stood as the largest hotel company in the world and this news is accurate.

• EXPANDING GLOBALY IS EASY

Companies always merge when they are serving the same product or service to different market in different sectors. And usually financially dominating company will always get the benefits and acquire the rest. Similar is the case study of Marriott and Starwood. After this merger Marriott being the player of the current hotel world has to play its game, which any company does upon getting the benefits. This also gave the benefit to outweigh working with a strong competitor and further use resources to expand.

Marriott and Starwood had also merged together their reward programs giving benefits to guests of combining both along with Ritz- Carlton. Both the companies now respecting each others culture is in a successful relation, not only making business to customer but business to individual services. They are the best and flag ship brands of the hotel industry leading to the merger of their best qualities and business management practices as well.

              ***THE LUXURY PINEAPPLE***           

       SIGNATURE OF HOSPITALITY 

        To the industry that never sleeps !!!

 You can further inbox me your feedback on the first post or put forward your queries & discuss on the topic.