Like the rest of the hospitality industry, Pride Hotels too is gradually emerging out of the gloom of COVID-19-induced slowdown. As the economy shows early signs revival, the Mumbai-based luxury hotel chain has geared up to welcome guests back. With an extra dose of caution, Pride has rolled out a bouquet of measures to reassure its guests that all its properties are exceedingly safe and hygienic, stresses Pride Group of Hotels founder and Managing Director S P Jain.

A chartered accountant by training, Mr Jain has mastered the art of buying loss-making hotels at prime locations across major cities and then building them into huge profit centres for the hospitality group. With this well-thought-out strategy, Pride Hotels has made giant strides in the luxury and business hotel segments.

With 36 properties spread across the length and breadth of the country, Pride Hotels boasts of over 3,200 rooms, more than 70 restaurants and over 90 banquet and conference halls – all of them exquisitely and artfully designed. In an exclusive interview with IBJ, Mr Jain shares his views on the post-pandemic trends and developments in the hospitality industry, key growth drivers and the upcoming plans of his luxury hotel chain.

What is your take on the present status of hospitality industry, one of the sectors most severely affected by COVID-19?

Hospitality industry is among the hardest-hit industries. Currently, with the festive season and the new year around, we are seeing demand in the market for staycations at places that are a short drive away. Domestic market is picking up faster than international market as local travellers are looking for a safe weekend getaway. We are also witnessing revenge tourism happening in India.

When do you think that the sector will return to the pre-COVID-19 level in terms of occupancy, average room rate (ARR), investments, etc?

Hospitality sector has been steadily recovering over the months. It will take at least a year more to reach pre-COVID-19 levels. The industry is currently limited to domestic tourists. Unless foreign tourists arrive in large numbers, it would be difficult to achieve any significant growth.

How has been the support from State and Central governments to the industry to tide over the crisis?

There was nothing attractive for the hospitality sector in the Union Budget 2021-22. So far, the only respite has been the government’s decision to extend the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to the sector. Without the governments’ support, the hospitality industry will collapse. We hope that the government will look into it and grant some relief in the forthcoming Budget.  

With economic activities picking up, how is the industry gearing up to get back to business?

We believe that regaining confidence of guests should be the first step in overcoming the crisis. Instilling a sense of safety in the guests will play a huge role. So, further strict sanitising and hygiene measures will need to be applied across the industry, with new practices put in place in order to monitor and control the environment in which the business takes place. Communication will play a lead role in reaching out to guests and needs to be done subtly. As an industry, we should be ready to adapt to the needs of the new travellers, who are locked safely in the confines of their homes.

What are going to be the key growth drivers?

The Union government recently announced 5 lakh free visas for tourists from 99 countries. This initiative will give a much-needed boost and play a crucial role in growth of inbound tourism. Weekend tourism will get a much-needed fillip with more travellers opting for short breaks within the periphery of the city. Another unique trend in the hospitality sector that will be the major growth driver will be personalised celebrations in hotel rooms for small functions, get-togethers and birthday parties. With these unique sales schemes offering in-room celebrations, guests can avail themselves of more privacy and follow adequate safety protocols. This in turn will also boost room occupancy for hotels and spur sales of food and beverage.

What according to you are the key deterrents to growth of the market?

The major obstacles in the growth of the hospitality market are travel restrictions, restrictions on large gatherings and ban on international travellers. Now there is a slight rise in occupancy. But there is also the fear of the third wave of COVID-19 re-emerging in the country.

How has your growth strategy of ‘pure management’ contracts been panning out over the last few years?

We have aggressively expanded our footprints to establish our presence across the country. The focus will be on an asset-light model for our expansion with a major slice of the portfolio managed directly by us. In the last six months, we have signed many properties on management contracts, with most of the new hotels on the verge of completion. We have recently launched properties in Udaipur, Dapoli, Mussoorie, Rajkot and Vadodara. We currently have a portfolio of 36 properties nationally and will soon expand to 50 hotels by 2022.

Are there any plans to restructure or rebrand the group hotels, which are present in different segments across the country?

We have no plans of restructuring or rebranding as we are a well-established hotel chain with four distinctive brands – Pride Plaza (luxury hotels), Pride Hotel (upscale hotels) Pride Resort (leisure hotels) and Pride Biznotel (mid-segment business hotels).

How does Pride Hotels stand out from the rest of the Indian luxury hotel chains?

Being a truly Indian brand, we start with a traditional welcome of Namaskar and welcome our guests with a Tika, Aarti and garland. Pride Hotels incorporates the five senses of traditional Indian welcome namely – fragrance, music, ambience, regional Indian paintings and frescoes and mouth-watering Indian cuisines. All our public areas play local regional music. All the artworks of the rooms and public areas have taken inspiration from local architecture, culture and colours.

What is your vision for Pride Hotel in the years to come? Is there any plan to float an initial public offer (IPO)?
Our vision is to establish Pride Hotels as the best Indian hospitality chain. We will plan an IPO after two years as by that time, the hospitality industry would have fully recovered from the setback of the pandemic, and the sector would be witnessing growth.