LaRiSa Hotels Plans Domestic and Regional Expansion with Innovative Hospitality Models, ET HospitalityWorld
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'We feel that we have reached the scale and level to look not only at domestic expansion, but parallely regional international expansion,' said Randhir Narayan director of LaRiSa Hotels , counting on the portfolio the merged entity of LaRiSa Hotels and amHotel Kollection currently operates in India—32 hotels open with six to seven in the pipeline adding up to over 1,000 rooms.'We are now a Rs 110 crore turnover company and it could easily climb up to Rs 125 crore as some of our properties are still new into the market and stabilising,' he said.Narayan, a seasoned hotelier with over three decades of experience in hotel operations, sales and investment, said that they are currently working on a 50 hotel landmark. Once that landmark is achieved, they would consider 'crossing the borders' of India. He informed that the potential destinations initially are the regional destinations of Sri Lanka, Thailand, etc. which are well connected with India and short-haul destinations.'If someone is spending Rs 10,000 in Goa, they'll spend the same in Thailand. The base is the same. These direct flight destinations are of interest to us. We are exploring collaborative hospitality models there,' he explained.Explaining the 'collaborative hospitality' model, Narayan said, 'We may not have the capital to build hotels overseas just yet, but we can certainly collaborate. If a group in Thailand sells our properties, and we sell theirs, it's a win-win. We also take pride in our food and hospitality and could introduce high-quality Indian cuisine in those markets.'In a strategic shift, Narayan decided to merge his asset-light hotel management venture, amHotel Kollection, with the asset-owning LaRiSa Hotels to form a more robust hospitality platform.'When you have a few assets of your own, it is easy to build an asset light model over it,' he said, citing big operators of hotels who started initially as asset owners and then switched to asset management.'LaRiSa Hotels owned a few hotels and also had a few leased assets,' he added.He said that the idea is to have a good mix of owned, JVs, leased and managed assets in the portfolio, and the target is non-branded, owner operated independent hotels. The merged LaRiSa Hotels has two brands of LaRiSa - LaRiSa Resorts, an upscale resort brand; 8fold by LaRiSa, a mid-scale brand; and amHotel Kollection's amKollection.'We have a very strong leisure focus,' Narayan said, talking about the portfolio currently. However, they also have city hotels in Jaipur, Aurangabad, Meerut, Gurugram, etc.Despite global uncertainties, Narayan is confident about the trajectory of the merged entity and its ability to scale meaningfully. An IPO may also be considered in the future to fuel growth and formalize capital structure, he said.
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