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Newstrack
Phoenix Group Global reconsiders ties with Carlson
Dinkar Farwaha & Sanjeev Bhar - New Delhi
Phoenix Group Global, which recently launched luxury hotel brand Zuri Hotels
& Resorts, is set to evaluate its existing alliance with Carlson Hotels
for its three properties in India. It was learnt from a source that the company's
franchise contract with the group is coming to a close at the end of the current
fiscal ending March 31, 2009.
Its director Abhishek Kamani maintained that though the group has no immediate
plans of bringing its two premium Radisson branded properties (Radisson Plaza
Resort & Spa, Kumarakom and Radisson White Sands Resort, Goa) under the
Zuri Hotels & Resorts umbrella, Express Hospitality understands that this
development can happen as soon as April next year. "We will take a call
on whether to continue with the agreement or adopt the Zuri brand for our existing
properties depending on how the talks with Carlson progress," he said.
The company also owns the Country Inn & Suites by Carlson in Goa.
The first property under Zuri - the 162-room Zuri, Whitefield - is a five-star
business hotel that will be launched in January 2009. The company has pumped
in nearly Rs 200 crore into this venture and the property is expected to command
an ARR between Rs 9,000 to Rs 10,000. All future properties with similar positioning
from the stable will come under the Zuri brand. Kamani has not ruled out the
possibility of launching a budget brand in the future.
He said, "Our focus is mainly on South India right now though we are considering
metro cities like Mumbai and Delhi as well as two-tier cities of Nagpur and
Ahmedabad, for which we will look to launch a budget brand so as not to dilute
the parent brand." It is currently adding a five-star business hotel in
Nairobi and yet another property in Bengaluru to its kitty. Though it owns all
six properties in its portfolio, the company is open to joint ventures with
potential partners with suitable land banks.
Kamani added that the group will consider franchising the brand once it has
achieved critical mass. Till then it will opt for management contracts. Apart
from the aforementioned resort properties and the upcoming Zuri Whitefield,
Phoenix Group Global owns the Diani Reef Beach Resort & Spa in Mombasa,
Kenya and The Liner at Liverpool, UK.
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