Vantage Group's Value Inns & Hotels Worldwide makes foray into India

Value Inn Worldwide & Value Hotel Worldwide of the Vantage brand have entered India, through an exclusive master license agreement with Miraya Hotel Management Pvt. Ltd, stated a company release.

The Value Inns & Hotels India will be positioned as two to four Star quality hotels, depending on location, size of the hotel and product for 30 to 65 rooms. They will primarily be business hotels offering food & beverage and banqueting facilities for weddings and events.

“We feel that there is great demand for hotels for the middle class in second and third-tier markets, and we look forward to bringing our Value brands to those areas of the country. We plan to grow via new construction and re-branding of existing hotels, and are ecstatic that Miraya plans to emulate Vantage’s innovative brand affiliation model that is designed for independent operators and allows them the freedom to operate in the manner they feel is best for their market place,” said Roger Bloss, Founder, President and CEO of Vantage Hospitality.

The award-winning Value Inn brand has set industry records for growth that offers members the lowest fees in the industry, reasonable agreements, flexible services and amenities, sensible PIPs, and 'A Voice and A Vote' in the brand's direction while providing the most comprehensive resources in the lodging industry.

Competitive, fast growing and the world's eighth largest hotel chain, as claimed by the company release, Value Inns & Hotels Worldwide has over 1,200 properties across USA, Canada, South Korea, Indonesia and Mexico and has given Miraya the exclusive right to develop its international brands in India. “A tie up with the fastest growing hotel chain is very encouraging for us. It was heartening to know that 76 per cent of the Vantage members are of Indian descent, which proves that the chain is preferred by Indians. For this MIHL will look at investing approximately Rs700 crores in acquiring assets in India to rebrand them under the Value Inn Brands,” enthused Rohit Yadav Founder and Chairman, Miraya Investment Holdings Ltd (MIHL).

Value Inns & Hotels India plan to raise the bar of lodging in mid-market segment in India. “The brand offers hotel owners the most affordable alternative to a traditional hotel franchise in the budget through lower midscale segments and we are happy to be bringing this benefit to hotel owners in India. Our plan is to make Value Inns & Hotels India a 100 hotel chain within the next five to seven years.” said Sudhir Sinha, Managing Director and CEO, Value Inns & Hotels India.

While guests of the hotel can enjoy consistent quality and exceptional service at each hotel, owners will benefit from Vantage’s state-of-the-art, global reservation system powered by Sabre Hospitality Solutions, as well as its comprehensive revenue-generating programs and resources.

“Following an extensive search, Vantage has found the ideal partner in Miraya Hotel Management. The company has all the attributes that we were looking for – they have strong knowledge of the Indian hotel industry and franchising, expertise in operations, and are financially sound. With Miraya, we now have the right plan, the right people and the right brands,” said Bill Hanley, Vantage’s Group President of International Development.

Snap Fitness to open 178 new health clubs in India

As part of its expansion plans, US-based Snap Fitness plans to add 178 health clubs in India by the end of 2017. 

It has 62 operational clubs in India, is looking at places like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad for expanding its footprint. 

"We are planning to have 240 locations under our brand by end of 2017. Out of these 20 centres will be company-owned and operated, while the rest which is close to 220 will be franchise owned, franchise operated," Snap Fitness India MD and CEO B M Vikram said. 

"We will be positioning most of these centres in tier one cities like Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi and NCR. A fraction of them will also go to tier two and tier three cities," he said. 

Crocs to open 60 stores by 2018

US shoemaker  Crocs, a footwear brand mostly known for colourful rubbery clogs with holes, entered the country in 2007 through a joint venture with Chogori Retail which was later changed into franchise operation.

Crocs has terminated  its exclusive franchising agreement for India with Chogori Retail and will now partner several companies, instead, to open retail stores in India. "We have planned out a strategy of having few but strong franchise and shedding some of the partners that don't, can't or won't want to grow with us whatever the reason might be," said Nissan Joseph, general manager of Crocs India.

Crocs, plans to open around 60 stores in the next three years apart from pushing its online initiative that already accounts for over 10% of sales in less than a year of its ecommerce entry.

Joseph said the last of the Chogori stores could go on till June. "Some will close and reopen, some will reopen in different locations inside the mall and some will reopen through new franchise partners," he said. Made with lightweight anti-microbial foam called Croslite, Crocs first hit stores in 2004 as a beach shoe and became an instant hit, thanks to its radical colourful design and lightweight, comfortable and odour-resistant qualities. 

Sbarro hopeful of expanding their India footprint to 50 outlets by mid-2016

Sbarro, chain of Pizza restaurants popular for New York style Pizza internationally, has plans to expand their footprint from the current 15 outlets to more than 50 by middle of next year. Sbarro has opened their 15th outlet last week in Bandra in Mumbai. The international chain based in Columbus, Ohio in the US has three regional franchisees in India for North & East, West and Southern region. 

The international restaurant chain which currently has 1,000 odd stores in 44 countries is keen to expand their network in Asia in general, South East Asia in particular, and the Pacific region. Naresh Vinod Worlikar, Vice President -International Franchise Operations-Asia, Sbarro said that the focus currently is in establishing presence in countries like Malaysia, Myanmar, China, Korea, Australia, etc. Terming India as a potential market for Sbarro, Worlikar said that they are hopeful of adding 15 to 20 new outlets in India by the end of this year. 

As part of their expansion and maintaining the standards, Sbarro will be soon launching Training Centres, one each in a Franchisee region, in India. Worlikar said that one of the operational outlet will be designated as a Training Centre and people will be imparted six to eight weeks training at these centres. Currently, Sbarro has training facilities in the US and Philippines. 

Disclosing the business model, Worlikar said that Sbarro works with Master Franchisees in international markets. These franchisees could be for a country or for multiple countries, or for regions within a country. “These franchisees have the right to develop stores under their corporation or appoint sub-franchisees ,” he said.

Talking about the freedom to localize the recipes, Philippe Jore, Vice President – International Training & Culinary, Sbarro said that while formulations remained the same internationally, localization is permitted in terms of Pepperoni and use of flavours. “In India, considering the market sentiments, Chicken is used in place of Pork or Beef,” he said. “The differentiator for Sbarro is the fresh dough, fresh sauces, and 100% real mozzarella cheese. We are the only international Pizza brand which offer Pizza by Slice. Customer can order a full pizza or in slices,” he said.

Carzonrent launches MYLES franchise program

MYLES has a strong community of customers who believe in using MYLES cars instead of buying cars. 

They also believe in MYLES philosophy of Car Sharing/Self Drive services that helps in the decongestion of cities and subsequently the environment. MYLES Angels will be an addition to the existing MYLES community that aims to get more like-minded individuals together to make a larger community of those seeking smart mobility solutions.

Carzonrent is also looking at increasing the MYLES fleet to 40,000 in the next three years.

Being the pioneers in providing 360 degrees mobility solutions, the franchise program gives a chance to the individuals to be MYLES Angels and to earn revenue out of the cars they own. 

Myles consumer base continues to grow at over 40% on a Month on Month basis in the last 14 months of its existence and provides a potential of high return to associates on the investments.

Being part of a technology enabled process and large network will allow high growth potential to the Myles Angels as well. Some of the exclusive features of the franchise program are highlighted below;

Assured Online Business.
Extensive Marketing Support.
Fleet management support
Technology Driven business less manpower required
Investor friendly investment scheme

Commenting on the launch, Sakshi Vij, Executive Director, Carzonrent said,"Myles comes with a promise that you can save anywhere between 20-40% of your yearly cost of owning a car if you choose to rent the car as per need. There are over 25000 Mylers who experience this benefit regularly. The rapid growth of this community has encouraged us to develop the Myles Angels network. Over the next 12 months, we will be looking to add over 2000 such Entrepreneurs who believe in making smarter mobility solutions available in their cities. We have always been the leaders in the urban mobility space and believe in innovation through technology and collaborative models. We believe self-drive is the next engine of growth of mobility in India."

Carlson Rezidor Hotel eyes south India's religious centres to boost business

Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group is eyeing major pilgrimage centres in south India to set up hotels as part of its expansion plans, a top company official said today. 

Carlson Group is one of the world's largest hotel chains. South India has vast potential for religious tourism and the group is focusing its attention to develop hotels in major pilgrimage centres like Tirupati, Madurai and Rameshwaram, said Raj Rana, CEO, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, South Asia. 

"The group has already tapped the pilgrimage tourism potential in northern parts of the country like Ajmer, Varanasi and Haridwar and as part of the expansion of footprint, south (India) is an important destination for such activities," he said. 

Depending upon availability of partners and locations, we would set up at least 20 heritage hotels in these centres in five to seven years, he said. As the group functions on franchise, management and operation basis, the investments would purely depend on arrangements based on partners and number of hotel rooms, he added. The group is also open to conversion of existing hotels and their renovation, he said. 

Rana was here to inspect progress of work on the group's five-star hotel under Radisson Blu brand. 

The Coimbatore facility wold commence operations next year, he said. 

The group presently has 74 hotels across the country, including two in Chennai, one in Mahabilipuram and one in Salem in Tamil Nadu under different brands and 40 more hotels are in the pipeline. 

Wyndham to add 15 new hotels in India by 2015 end

On an expansion spree in India, global hospitality major Wyndham Hotel Group will add 15 new fully operational properties across the country by end of this year. 
The US-based chain currently has 24 operating properties in India with a total of 2,500 rooms at various locations. 
"We will be opening about 15 new operating properties across the country by end of 2015," Wyndham Hotel Group Regional Vice President Indian Ocean Deepika Arora Said. 

The company is looking at locations in cities such as Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Darjeeling, Bengaluru, Raipur, Lucknow, Jammu and Jalandhar among others for this, she added. 

On being asked the business model  Arora said: "So far we have focused on the franchise model and we are the only company that offers all our brands under the franchise model but going forward we will also be evaluating management contract options." 
The company is also open to acquiring hospitality chains with management infrastructure for growth, she added. 

When asked about investments, Arora said: "We are an asset-light company and follow asset-light strategy so our investments are mainly on developing human resources, on marketing and on helping the client increase the revenue." 

India is an important key market for Wyndham Hotel Group and the company plans to tap India's hospitality sector that is mainly domestic-driven and is focusing on leisure and MICE segment. 
"India is one of the key markets for Wyndham from a growth perspective. We are focusing on leisure and MICE segment for growth as it has huge potential. We are also looking at destinations that are still untapped," Arora said. 

The company, which currently has properties under its Ramada, Ramada Plaza, Ramada Encore, Days Hotel, Howard Johnson and Wyndham Grand brands, said the 15 new properties would be mostly under the Ramada brand, there will be a Ramada Plaza, one Howard Johnson and couple of Days. 

Wyndham Hotel Group, part of Wyndham Worldwide Corporation currently has 7,650 hotels and 661,000 rooms in 70 countries under its brands such as Dolce Hotels and Resorts, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Ramada, Days Inn, Super 8, Wingate by Wyndham, Baymont Inn & Suites, Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham, Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham, TRYP by Wyndham, Howard Johnson, Travelodge and Knights Inn.