India
“Indians are the fastest growing outbound travelers globally; will also overtake the Chinese in absolute figures:’ Hilton President Alan Watts | India News – Times of India
“Indian outbound travel is becoming a traveling force to be reckoned with, in line with India’s economic growth. Wherever you end up with travel dominance, it will have an impact on hotel design and cuisine. Young Indian couples travel with their parents and children. This 3 generation (3G) journey is quite unique for the Indian traveler. And that means when you’re designing a hotel, you need more than connecting rooms. You need flexible rooms and corridors with closed doors to create an apartment style at the end of a corridor for a traveling Indian family,” said the president of the world’s second largest hospitality company, with more than 8,000 hotels worldwide. Marriott International is the largest with approximately 9,000 properties.
In the year 2023, 2.72 crore Indians traveled abroad, higher than the pre-pandemic 2.69 crore in 2019. On the other hand, 15.5 crore Chinese tourists traveled abroad in 2019. Although Chinese in absolute numbers being the largest source of international tourists, this will change in the not so distant future.
India recently overtook China as the most populous country in the world. “India has a younger population, higher birth rates and stronger GDP growth. As disposable incomes rise and the emerging middle class continues to drive travel, India will become the world’s third largest accommodation market. And then in a few decades, India has the potential to become the largest traveling population in the world. Therefore, everyone in the travel and tourism industry, whether cruise ships, airlines, tour companies or hotels, must focus on India’s potential for the future,” said Watts.
Hilton currently has 29 properties in India, of which 24 are in the pipeline, set to open in three years. It has now signed a strategic licensing agreement (SLA) with Olive by Embassy to open 150 ‘Spark by Hilton’ in India over the next decade. This is a premium economy brand with daily rates in the range of Rs 4,000-6,000 and all these properties will come up in South India.
Asked if 200 properties in India are enough for the world’s second largest hotel company, Watts said: “This is one announcement. You will hear from us about more things in the coming months. I don’t want to name a number of hotels that we see coming up in India in the coming years, but it will be significant.”
While India is a major source market for customers for all travel companies, including airlines worldwide, hotels have another aspect: trained manpower working in properties abroad, especially in the US, and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) owning the same. “I have the privilege of traveling all over the world for a living. There is no place in the world where you would not find an Indian in a very high leadership position – across South East Asia and the US. Indians are also very important on the owners’ side. The largest owners of Hampton By Hilton franchises in the US are Patels. There are many Indian owners who have earned their generational wealth by working with Hilton in one of our brands. There is a huge tradition of Indian entrepreneurs in the US offering franchise-oriented service hotels. Starting with one and ending with 30 or 40. Patel is the most common owner name for a Hampton Bay Hilton franchise in the US. It has been such a vehicle for entrepreneurial Indians,” Watts said.
“Ownership has worked very well. It’s been a big part of the Hilton story abroad and we’ll be the same here from a service perspective. Whether you are an employee of Hamilton and are working your way up to general manager. Whether you are an owner, investor or of course a customer, the Hilton brand has such a strong association with India,” he added.
