Newstrack

Royal Garden Hotel targets Indian outbound market

Andrea Lopez - Mumbai

Mark Anderson

The upscale London-based Royal Garden Hotel has expressed its interest in the outbound India market. Located a stone's throw away from Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, the hotel is a five- star luxury property with rooms in three categories (standard, superior and deluxe) as well as 37 suites. The hotel is now looking to target the upmarket, high spending Indian traveller to London and plans to cater to both the leisure and corporate segments. Speaking to Express Hospitality, Mark Anderson, director of sales and marketing, Royal Garden Hotel said that the hotel's USP was its location and its reputation for being a family-owned and run property. "India is a very small market for us, but we hope that it will be one among the top five in the coming years. The number of Indian visitors coming to London has been increasing and the trend of people staying with family and friends has changed in the past six years. Being an independent hotel, we realised the potential of coming here. "Apart from India, the hotel is also looking to target the Middle Eastern markets.

To woo the Indian traveller, the hotel has designed special room tariffs. The standard, superior and deluxe rooms have been priced at 180, 170 and 200 pounds (per night), respectively, inclusive of VAT and commissions. These tariffs will be valid uptil May 2008 and come at a discount of 30 per cent from the regular tariffs. The hotel is now looking for strategic alliances with upper-end travel agents in Mumbai. "We are in the process of formulating our plans with the trade and plan to offer incentives to travel agents who market and sell our product," said Anderson. Speaking about MICE facilities, he added that the hotel was equipped to handle business delegations.