Talking Point
Redesigning The Indian Market

The tie-up of Design Hotels with Park Hotels spells the entry of a new marketing concept to cater to Indian hospitality

Capital View

Rabindra Seth

Ever heard of Design Hotels? Not likely. Because it is only a ten-year-old representation and marketing company based in Scottsdale, Arizona, caring for a select and discerning clientele, mainly business travellers looking for an alternative experience. The need for this kind of niche marketing was felt when two travel industry friends, Claus Sendlinger, a media and PR expert with roots in Germany, and Peter Schweitzer, a travel agent in San Francisco, visited two newly commissioned hotels in New York, The Morgan and The Paramount, and were impressed by their modernity in terms of design, decor, music, food and service. They got a similar feedback from new hotels in London and Paris. This was towards the end of the ’80s and it took them a good five years to fine-tune the concept which finally took birth in 1993 as Design Hotels Inc with 16 founding members, including Artus in Paris and Claris in Barcelona.

Even before it entered its tenth year of operation, Design Hotels had taken its membership to 103 properties in 36 countries. The average tariff in the Design Hotels family is US$ 230 and last year it sold 150,000 room nights worth US$ 32 million. Schweitzer has since retired and Sendlinger is CEO.

For quite some time Design Hotels had been eyeing India. A break-through came in the company’s tenth anniversary year when senior vice president and chief operating officer, Dr Robert Deiner, met Park Hotels’ young and charming boss, Priya Paul at an international travel mart. Paul, already working on turning her chain into boutique hotels and ever keen to be different, lost no time in making three of her five properties as members of Design Hotels in one go - a win win situation for both sides as Dr Deiner put it in his briefing to the media in the Capital. In a message for the occasion, Paul said “We are delighted to announce our association with Design Hotels. The marketing alliance will enable us to reach out globally. International travellers looking for an intimate, luxurious experience in India will now have easy access to our specially designed hotels with exciting dining and entertainment options. In all the 36 years of our operation we have remained contemporary and exciting, bringing in fresh concepts and learning from the world over, satisfying the need for a truly international experience.”

The three Park hotels joining the international marketing group are in Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai and Dr Deiner welcomed them as a “crucial regional expansion of Design Hotels portfolio”. Answering questions, Dr Deiner clarified that his company is not into designing hotels nor owning or managing them. “We offer sales and marketing services which include global distribution through CRS (Amadeus, Apollo/Galileo, Sabre, Worldspan and Pegasus), internet online reservations (www.designhotels.com); toll free phone bookings, directories, promotions at trade fairs and PR/media relations. The company also has nine international offices apart from Scottsdale in New York, London, Augsburg (where the holding company is headquartered), Barcelona, Milan, Sanur and Tokyo. Although a majority of the members are in Europe, it has established a presence in Asia Pacific also. In Indonesia it has five hotels, four of them in Bali, and one each in Fiji and Myanmar, and three in Japan.

Dr Deiner said he is also talking to other hoteliers in India to join his outfit. As for membership fees, he said the standard rate charged is US$ 15,000 annually per property. The rate offered to Park Hotels was confidential, he said, but hinted that the group had been shown special consideration because three hotels had come in together and had also facilitated Design Hotels’ entry into India.

Profiling the guests at Design Hotels, the COO said, “They are demanding, mobile individuals, who desire a blend of luxury, authenticity, relaxation, inspiration and entertainment. As protagonists of an information age, this group expects the best in communication technology, but lay special value on living with body and spirit in balance.” Elaborating, Dr Deiner said the goal of the founders of Design Hotels and its members (he prefers to call them like minded hoteliers) is to provide today’s traveller with “an alternative to the optimised norm, bringing creativity, style and individuality into the experience”. Each member hotel, he added, “distinguishes itself through innovative interior design and architecture, uncomplicated service, a sense for creative details and distinct identity.” And so India has yet another segment in its hotel industry.