It’s busy times for the Marriott group in Calcutta. The Westin Kolkata Rajarhat opened a month ago, their flagship property in the east JW Marriott Kolkata completes a year and development for two more properties in Bengal is “on track”. Updates from Neeraj Govil, area vice-president South Asia, Marriott International, over a telephonic chat... 

We last met at #ShaadiByMarriott in Delhi — how did that campaign in July stamp Marriott’s authority in the wedding space?

If we look back at the whole campaign since we launched it, we’ve had tremendous traction off it. The event in New Delhi propelled us into the limelight and that was the whole idea. We got a lot of awareness and eyeballs around #ShaadiByMarriott. And we got a real opportunity to showcase what our hotels can do as well.

We then continued to promote #ShaadiByMarriott as a sustained campaign to lots of different markets and at different hotels and all I can say that weddings in our hotels have gone up exponentially… despite some of the concerns around demonetisation and GST. The campaign is very much in progress, it is something that will evolve over time and we are very serious about being the front-runners in this space.

Some competitors have also launched their own wedding campaigns, and rightfully so, because the opportunity in this segment hasn’t been tapped into, in the true sense. Several of our new hotels — like JW Marriott Jaipur  — are being positioned for shaadis and are going to be commissioned to do large destination weddings.

How many hotels does Marriott have now in India?

We currently have 93 hotels that operate under the Marriott brands in India and we are confident that by the end of this year we will have 100. It’s a milestone we kind of accelerated towards post the acquisition of Starwood. We opened 15 hotels in India in this calendar year.

At the opening of JW Marriott Kolkata (2016), you said that you were planning to grow your Bengal inventory. There were plans for a 178-keys Fairfield by Marriott slated to come up at Rajarhat and a 138-key property in Siliguri under the Courtyard by Marriott brand…

That’s correct. Those properties are very much under development. We continue to look for opportunities to grow in east India and obviously Calcutta is the hub. We are aggressively looking to growing our portfolio in India and we want to be well represented as far as our brand goes. We know that we have a great JW Marriott and The Westin now and a Fairfield has been signed up. But there is opportunity for us to look at other brands from our stable because as a market Calcutta is certainly looking up for us.

Any timeline by when the new properties will be ready?

No real specific update. I think the progress is good and these things usually go back and forth by a few months anyway. But by and large these properties are on track... we could say that within two years we would have these hotels up and running.

The Westin opened in October. Early days still but what feedback have you received?

Positive. The hotel opened at a time when there were a lot of events in the city, especially soccer. There was a paucity of rooms during that time in the city and all the hotels picked up a good amount of business as a result of it. We managed to get that hotel up and running about that time, which helped in terms of the business levels. 
We have a forward-looking forecast in both our hotels. JW Marriott, in particular, is looking healthy because that hotel is now established; we recently completed our first anniversary. And I’m confident that we’ll continue to ramp up The Westin in the right manner. 

What next at JW Marriott Kolkata?

We are adding some exciting food and beverage options to the current F&B, which is already very popular. So watch that space very closely. 

One of the most important things for a successful Marriott hotel is finding the right partner. What kind of a relationship do you share with the Mani Group (partners for JW Marriott Kolkata)?

We have had a phenomenal relationship with the Mani Group right from the start. This is a partnership that we cherish, a partnership for the long haul and extends well beyond one hotel. Our aim is to continue to deliver great results at the hotel, which in turn makes them viable investments for our owners. We are intertwined in terms of our shared objectives, because at the end of the day the operator-owner relationship is paramount. We enjoy a strong bond with the Mani Group. 

Talking about GST, what has been its impact on MICE?

We believe that 28 per cent GST is high. We’ve been clear about that since Day One. We are continuing to make representations to the GST council, industry associations and other bodies. Where we are seeing the impact to a large extent is the MICE segment. GST of 28 per cent makes our destination uncompetitive because when you look at neighbouring countries in Asia Pacific, which have similar MICE kind of business, they are far more attractive in terms of GST rates. So that is a concern for us.

We’ve tried to kind of bring forth the impact on business it will have to the various bodies. When there is a movement of people into the country, typically there is add-on spending. People stay on or come a few days earlier. I think the entire MICE-GST bit needs to be relooked at.

The second area where we are seeing the impact of GST is the regional segment. A lot of domestic travellers now travel over the weekends, which is great for the entire hospitality industry, great for add-on businesses. At the end of the day, if you’re going to slap on 28 per cent GST on a weekend traveller who’s going to destinations like Goa, where hotel rates are in excess of Rs 7,500, that’s quite a hole in the pocket. It curtails the spending. So people may still travel to that location but now they will not spend as much as they would have. 

Talking about Goa, have you managed to slip in a trip (Neeraj is half-Goan)?

I slip in a trip to Goa every time I can! I love driving and I love Goa and they complement each other and get packed into one weekend. 

Finally, what update from the Arsenal fan that you are?

Oh my god, don’t even start! We just lost a very important game on Sunday (November 5). We haven’t done very well this season but hey, I continue to be a committed fan of the Gunners. 

Karo Christine Kumar

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