Consultancy Firms

India is calling

Stephen Rushmore Chairman HVS International

HVS International through its Indian arm HVS India has been offering its consultancy services to the Indian hospitality industry. Stephen Rushmore, chairman, HVS International, and Manav Thadani, managing director, HVS India, give their views on the burgeoning Indian hospitality market

Manav Thadani MD HVS India

HVS International has provided consultancy services to thousands of clients in more than 60 foreign countries. "Our professional staff of more than 150 industry specialists offer a wide range of services, including market feasibility studies, valuations, strategic analysis, development planning, and litigation support," asserts Stephen Rushmore, chairman, HVS International. Through its divisions, the firm supplies hotel consulting expertise in the areas of executive search, parking, golf, food and beverage operations, gaming, technology, hotel operations and management, asset management, interior design, investment counseling and brokerage.

The Indian arm started its operations in 1997, which coincidentally was the firm's first office in Asia. Manav Thadani, managing director, HVS India, elucidates, "We have conducted a wide variety of studies in India and other Asian countries; 90 assignments in 10 countries since 1997, to be precise. In addition to that, our head office in New Delhi offers a full array of market feasibility studies, development consulting, operator selection coupled with management contract analysis and negotiations, and strategic advice."

The game plan

In the hospitality sector, HVS advises in the development of new hotels, working with developers, architects and other development team members to conceptualise the optimal lodging product for a particular site. "Our staff has extensive experience in providing expert analysis and testimony on a wide variety of topics including damages, property tax values, management competency, contracts and agreements and hotel industry standards," says Thadani.

HVS executive search and eco services are the two unique offering from HVS and its Ecotel brand, which is the hallmark for environmentally sensitive hotels, has been instrumental in spreading the ecofriendly message in the Indian hospitality market. Throwing light on the executive search division, Rushmore, said, "It is a premier executive search and human resource consulting firm specialising in the lodging, gaming, restaurant and retail industries. We deliver superior value by focusing on the needs of our clients and bottom line results. Our record of accomplishment demonstrates the success of our five-step approach to the search process."

In the Indian hospitality market, HVS India has the distinct claim to be the company to host the first ever investment conference for Indian and international hoteliers and realtors. "In the global scenario, the South Asian markets have been booming. Hotel business is on a high with good occupancies and RevPars. More so the South Asian market is witnessing a surge in tourists both domestic and international. These factors have generated a great interest in the American and European markets and many hotel brands have been keen on setting hotels in the region. It is on this premise that the HVS India office decided to host a hotel investment conference," expresses Rushmore.

When asked to share his views on the Indian market's performance in the couple of years, Rushmore asserted that the year 2004-05 saw a continuation of the growth momentum the hotel industry experienced in 2003-04. Most cities in India saw occupancy levels improve over the previous year and, for two consecutive years, both occupancy and average room rates have improved.

On the horizon

HVS India plans to add another distinct service to its portfolio of services for the Indian market - Asset Management. "Through its asset management and strategic advisory division, we offer our clients comprehensive range of strategic planning, asset over-sight, operational and development consulting, franchise and management company evaluation and selection, and expert witness litigation support," reveals Thadani.

"Whether you are an owner of a hotel company or the owner of an individual hotel asset, HVS can bring tremendous value to you. We can assist in developing and initiating business models to achieve company objectives, and evaluate the performance of individual assets to maximise their profitability," asserts Rushmore. Also on the cards is expansion of its India operations, wherein the group is to set up an office in Mumbai within the next couple of months.

Thandani believes…

Rushmore opines that global hospitality players and realtors are viewing India and China as the two target markets of the future. Over the years the Indian tourism industry has grown by leaps and bounds. With government playing facilitator, public-private synergies round the corner, huge market for all types of hotels from luxury and business to budget and boutique hotels, service apartments to timeshare resorts, opportunities are plenty for Indian and international hotel brands. "However, the government needs to help in ensuring that the current dearth of accommodation is addressed soon as it will lead a very acute demand supply concern, that might lead to irrational room pricing, a phenomenon that's clearly evident even now. More so, while the Indian market is certainly seeing a slew of international funds wanting to put money into the hotel sector, there still exists considerable fear especially on being able to repatriate the funds back to the country of origin," says Thadani.

Being in the heart of the action, Thadani opines that the fact that Indian hospitality industry is vast, there is ample scope for all hospitality businesses to succeed. Besides the metro cities, non-metros cities too will witness a sudden spurt of hotel development in the next couple of years. Thadani says, "Whether the current estimated 60,000 rooms in the next five years will be adequate for the burgeoning tourist number both domestic and international will be left to be seen. The government would need to step in and offer solutions to the concerns of spiralling land prices and non-availability of land for hotel development."