Franchises Out, Only Management Tie-Ups In Future For Six Continents

Reema Sisodia - Mumbai

Six Continents Hotels will stop awarding franchise agreements and only enter into total management tie-ups in future. This, the company says, is to ensure that the quality standards of their hotels are rigidly adhered to.

Chandan Kashikar, regional director of operations & human resources, Six Continents Hotels, South West Asia, said, “India and Japan are the two countries where most of our hotels are run on franchising agreements. The strategy then was to flag hotels in all possible destinations to be able to cover maximum distribution. Now the focus is to ensure that we maintain and uphold the quality and brand standards of our hotels. Therefore we have decided to go in for management tie-ups.”

The company does not plan to change those franchise agreements which are already in place. All new agreements will however be management tie-ups.

The company plans to give the ‘Holiday Inn’ brand name a complete facelift and only get into agreements which they are certain will follow the prescribed standards. Kashikar said, “We are trying to meet our customers’ expectations by giving them what they want. The Holiday Inn brand is being given a facelift and we are enhancing our brand image.”

The company is also looking at investments in newer destinations. In the southern market, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore have been identified as primary markets for investment. The exact brand of the properties are still under discussion. Regarding future investments, Kashikar said, “We are actively looking at tie-ups but our country needs to stabilise politically for foreign investors to be confident enough to invest.”