Marriott International Inc. might look at franchise partnerships with hotel owners for their mid-scale brands like Courtyard and Fairfield by Marriott in Indian market over a period of time. This was disclosed by Rajeev Menon, Area Vice President, South Asia, Marriott International while speaking to HospitalityBiz on the sidelines of the opening of the JW Marriott New Delhi Aerocity Hotel. He said that the hotel chain would explore such Business opportunities once they ‘established’ formidable number of hotels across their portfolio of brands in the market.

He informed that in India the hotel chain sees the prospect of “franchisee” partnership for Courtyard by Marriott and Fairfield brands on a longer term. He said that prospects are higher for Fairfield brand. “Once we have formidable brand reputation for each of these of our brands, particularly for Fairfield brand and possibly for Courtyard, we could see franchisee opportunity in India,” Menon said. He added that Marriott International do have franchisees for these brands in the US, although 95 per cent of their portfolio is managed by the company in Asia.

Speaking about India market, Menon said that Marriott has been able to forge good partnerships in the India market in the last 14 years and able to achieve good growth. Marriott has a footprint of 23 hotels across seven operating brands in India. This includes upper upscale Ritz Carlton, that recently opened in Bengaluru, to JW Marriott, flagship Marriott, Renaissance, , Marriott Residences, Courtyard by Marriott, and Fairfield Inn.

Commenting about the market slow down and its impact on business, Menon said that Marriott properties in India has been able “to buck” the trend and register higher RevPAR’s in India despite adverse market conditions. While hotels in India experienced an average four per cent slide in RevPAR this year, Marriott properties were able to achieve five per cent growth in RevPAR compared to previous year, he added. He said that Indian hospitality market would continue to remain sluggish for the first six months of 2014 because of general elections. “Thing would look up after July,” he said.



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