Radisson targets young travelers with the RED brand

The American hotel company, which manages brands such as Park Inn, Radisson Blu, Country Inn & Suites, as well as India’s flagship premium brand Radisson, will launch its latest brand with a 154-room property in Mohali by December .

Radisson RED is a young, millennial-focused lifestyle brand that caters to young travelers, said Zubin Saxena, Managing Director and Vice President of South Asia Operations for Radisson Hotel Group.

“It’s going to change the way this segment, the lifestyle segment, works and we see the addition of at least 10 more Radisson REDs in three to five years,” Saxena said.

Several other hotel companies have also launched millennial-friendly brands over the years. Marriott’s W Hotel and Indigo Hotel, a lifestyle brand of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), fall into this category. MOXY is another Marriott brand aimed at the most cost-conscious millennial traveler.

The company also aims to bring Radisson Collection, its luxury brand, to India.

Discussions with potential owners are underway to consider creating either large city hotels, which are convention-driven, or properties in places such as Goa or Rajasthan, where he will aim to convert some palaces into luxury hotels. .

Radisson is present in 60 locations in India with over 100 managed properties.

It plans to have 250 to 300 hotels by 2027, which will boost the penetration of level III, -IV and -V markets. “These are completely intact markets. Growth will lie in these markets, ”said Saxena.

Last year, she opened “Radisson Individuals” in India, an affiliate brand that works with independent hotels that use the company’s distribution system to sell their room inventory.

In October 2019, the industry average for hotel occupancy rates was north of 65%. That number for October was 61-62% across all categories in India, Saxena said citing analysts.

“In terms of demand, the recovery has made a comeback. It’s pretty strong, especially since we’ve had two waves (covid) in the meantime, ”he said. Almost 100% of that demand comes from domestic travelers, he said.

Saxena expects demand for domestic travel to continue over the next three to four years, even as a segment of well-paid, well-traveled customers returns to offshore locations.

The supply of organized rooms in India increased by 3.3% in 2020-2021 compared to the previous year, according to a report by hospitality consultancy Gurugram Hotelivate. There are approximately 144,000 branded rooms nationwide, of which 4,093 rooms were opened during the year.

The majority of this inventory came from major metropolises such as Delhi, which continued to have the largest inventory base of branded rooms in India (15,181 rooms).

It has increased by 1% in the last fiscal year. Mumbai (including Navi Mumbai) and Bengaluru had the second and third largest stocks with 14,330 rooms and 13,901 rooms, respectively.

Marriott, IHCL and Radisson Hotel Group were the three largest hotel companies in India, followed by French hotel company Accor, Hotelivate said in the 2021 Indian Hospitality Trends & Opportunities report.