Prasenjit Chakraborty - Mumbai “Kempinski Hotels want to come to India,” this was stated by Amanda Elder, Member of the Management Board & Chief Commercial Officer, Kempinski Hotels, while speaking to TravelBiz Monitor in Mumbai. “We truly love to find some owned properties and want to offer similar experiences that we provide in Europe and other places. We are looking for good opportunities and right locations,” said Elder.
Citing reasons for organising roadshows in Delhi and Mumbai, she said that there is a pent up demand for travel in India and the Indian travellers love to stay in Kempinski properties. “Indian guests are very much aware of the brand Kempinski unlike their counterparts in other countries. We absolutely love that recognitation,” said Elder. And added, “Officially, we are doing roadshows in Delhi and Mumbai this time. But some of our colleagues are going to other parts of India exploring the potential of those markets. I believe Bangalore, Pune etc. are the cities which also offer tremendous scope for us.”
Talking about target segment, she said that besides family, wedding and MICE are also their focus areas from this market. “We have beautiful properties and strongly feel that Indian customers trust kempinski for their most beautiful day in life,” she pointed out.
On MICE front, they are looking for both large and small incentive groups from India. “We are also looking for corporate meetings and will deliver what the organisiers want to achieve,” she said.
Throwing light on business prospects, Elder said that she is pretty sure that things will be much better in this year. “Our management is excited to sign deals in Malaysia, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and China. In this, we may take over some properties and others to come up in two years time,” she said.
On sustainability, Elder said that Kempinski is very active on this front and made all its properties plastic- free. “We even made sure our bathroom amenities are sustainable. We also make sure that food wastages across our properties is minimum.
Terming India as one of the most important markets for kempinski, Elder said, “One of the fastest growing demographies before the pandemic. India would be around about the eighth or ninth country in terms of the number of room nights. For us, India ranks immediately after US, China, Germany, Middle East and UK. We are excited about India market,” pointed out Elder.
