Last November during an event in New York, I remember conversing with an industry colleague about India. She had just returned to the U.S. from her first sojourn to the emerging market, while I was eagerly preparing to depart.
“Is there anything I should know in advance?” I asked.
“The people,” she said without hesitation. “I’ve never seen so many people in one place.”
“Like Times Square?” I asked, referring to New York’s infamous beehive of shoulder-to-shoulder tourist congestion only a few blocks away.
“No not at all,” she laughed. “It’s even worse.”
Those words never could have prepared me for the sheer mass of people I’ve witnessed this week while touring several hotel properties scattered amid Delhi’s thriving urban hubs. Everywhere I looked—on sidewalks and roads, shops and storefronts—there were more bodies crowding the mix of newly paved roads and dirt marginals that ran alongside them than I’ve ever seen in my life.
The experience was admittedly overwhelming for a simpleminded Midwestern guy like me. Though my beloved hometown of Cleveland all the way in Ohio could hardly be called an unfettered, expansive oasis, there’s still more than enough room to amble listlessly through open lanes of traffic or give your dog as much leeway as she can muster on a 30-foot retractable leash.
Yet every ounce of anxiety that swelled while dodging the seemingly endless host of scooters and people and motorcycles and cars on the national highway was met with equal parts wonder and awe.
So this is the emergent India. The BRIC. The developing nation that has occupied so much of the hotel industry’s attention.
Awe and anxiety. Wonder and worry. The dichotomy was prescient—but not just to this newcomer’s eyes. Resolving the gap between the challenges and opportunities in this ambitious citizenry was a recurring theme during countless conversations with executives and property-level managers alike.
For if India is measured in terms of its potential, than let it be measured in its 1.2 billion people. Likewise, let progress be marked by the country’s ability to overcome the problems that persist therein.
The situation was summed up succinctly by Denis Medvedev, senior economist for The World Bank, who spoke during the Hotel Investment Forum India: “The biggest opportunity for India is just taking advantage of the scale,” he said before adding, “The biggest risk is really not taking advantage of the opportunities that are there today.”
The hotel industry provides a case in point.
India’s burgeoning middle class will introduce hundreds of millions of new hotel guests into the global economy during the next decade. That’s why the likes of Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Accor and Marriott International are eager to expand their bases here—to the tune of some 50,000 new rooms, according to sources.
But the country does not have enough skilled laborers to support that ambitious development.
Institutions—both private and public—have made some strides in recent years, developing programs to train underprivileged youth or hone hospitality skills in higher education. The International Tourism Partnership, which has graduated 2,400 students in 12 countries in the past eight years, is a prime example.
But more needs to be done, particularly in the non-managerial positions, to leverage this potential workforce.
As Amitabh Kant, CEO and managing director of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation, said during HIFI, the industry needs 66% skilled laborers but institutions graduate only 28% (compared to students on management tracks). And in an industry where service standards are important, having the right people makes all the difference.
“We (hotel staffers) are the face of not only our industry but the country of India,” said Javed Ali, GM of the Radisson Blu Hotel Plaza Delhi.
If my trip is to be marked by anything—other than the great food and egregious traffic—it is the jaw-dropping staffing levels at each hotel. The 261-room Radisson Blu Hotel Plaza, which hosted part of my stay, employs more than 500 employees, for example.
The relentless service sets India’s hotel industry apart, several hoteliers told me. And that’s precisely why they spend so much time recruiting, training and wringing their hands.
But anxiety largely was overshadowed by optimism, which seems a defining characteristic of this place and its people. The economic landscape shifts on a dime in India, they said. If the need arises—and it has—an eager population will rise to fill the void.
India’s hotel industry is at a crossroads. That much is certain. And from what I’ve seen, its people will outshine the problem and show their true potential.
Now on to the usual goodies (HIFI edition) …
Stat of the week I
81,227: Branded hotel supply in India, which numbers less than that of New York, according to Horwath HTL India. In 2012, the market absorbed 8,600 rooms.
Stat of the week II
91,000: The number of rooms that would enter the Indian market by 2017 if every hotel announcement came to fruition, according to Horwath HTL’s Vijay Thacker. (He estimates the actual number will be closer to 50,000.)
Stat of the week III
41 million: Number of jobs in India supported by travel and tourism in 2012, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.
Quote of the week
“You can’t have all the ‘t’s crossed and the ‘i’s dotted on an investment analysis in India. Sometimes you’ve got to have faith in the people who are doing it and that the outcome that’s expected has a high probability of coming off. We’re not in an environment that is so black and white as the West. It is a challenge for any international company that is here. Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith.”
—Carlson Rezidor’s Simon Barlow, describing the uncertainty development landscape in India.
Reader comment of the week
“Considering the Sheraton website finds 14 Sheraton hotels and 22 other Starwood hotels when one tries to book a hotel in NYC, this is obviously a brilliant and necessary strategy. And not only for SEO for overall positioning even, heaven forbid, bricks and mortar marketing. Only question: why did it take so long to figure it out?”
—Reader “lbernste” commenting on the practice of including key destinations such as “New York City” in the official name of a hotel to draw more online traffic, a practice that was reported in “A hotel’s name important for SEO, marketing.”
Email Patrick Mayock or find him on Twitter.
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