For the first time, a foreign chain has become the No.1 player in India's hospitality sector, dethroning homegrown brand Taj that held the top position for decades. Marriott's global acquisition of Starwood has catapulted the American chain from the fourth position to the top slot in Asia's third largest economy.
The Maryland-based lodging company, which entered India in December 1999 with the Goa Marriott resort, now has 18,000 rooms in its portfolio as against Taj's 14,000. "The Starwood purchase has more than doubled our India footprint," said Marriott's Asia-Pacific head Rajeev Menon. Prior to the acquisition, Marriott had 8,000 rooms in the country.
Starwood's local operations have been combined with Marriott Hotels India, which is overseen by Menon. Currently, both Starwood and Marriott's India heads -Dilip Puri and Neeraj Govil -report to Menon. "We will come out with a new organisational structure in some weeks," said Menon, adding that there would be no layoffs, something that usually follows mergers and acquisitions. Menon said that since the company is in an expansion mode with 100 hotels in the pipeline, it needs people and will not let go of employees, highlighting that its expansion tracks India's growth story.
India, where the hotels sector is witnessing high growth rate, is the second most important market for Marriott after China within Asia Pacific, said Menon.
While Marriott leads in India in terms of room capacity, it remains behind Taj in terms of number of hotels. Taj, which opened its first property in Mumbai in December 1903, has 108 hotels in the country in comparison to Marriott's 79. Before Starwood came into its kitty, Marriott had 33 properties.
