Heritage hotels' new script is a hit
Having royalty and grandeur as their USP, Indian heritage hotels are now seeking new ways to earn big bucks.
By Vishakha Talreja & Meenakshi Verma, TNN |
NEW DELHI: Having royalty and grandeur as their USP, Indian heritage hotels are now seeking new ways to earn big bucks. While off-site business conferences are the chart toppers, shooting for films and soap operas are also picking up in a big way.
Of course, weddings remain the traditional favourite. Mostly, scheduled in the off-season, film shootings and conferences increase the room occupancy by almost 15-20%, say experts.
Heritage hotels, with their larger than life feel, are an ideal location for Bollywood movies. ITC Welcome Group of Hotels which owns about 45 heritage properties banks high on business conferences and film shootings.
“Our heritage properties are quiet popular for film shootings and offsite conferences. The old havelis and jharokhas are the attractions for movies and soap operas,” says an official spokesperson, ITC Welcome Group of Hotels.
The Welcomheritage Hotels like Balsamand Lake Palace and Khimsar Fort at Jodhpur were shooting locations for various films like Marigold. Also, the Windamere Hotel, Darjeeling, was a shooting location for Main Hoon Na. Similarly, City Palace will be playing host to a new flick, Akbar Jodha.
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Owing to the royal ambience, heritage properties have an edge over other hotels when it comes to organisation of the big fat weddings. “The number of weddings organised in our heritage hotel has increased from almost two to 12 a year, in a space of five years,” says Surendra Singh, director, Shahpura House — a heritage hotel in Rajasthan. The average cost of a three-day marriage ceremony organised in a heritage property is around Rs 45-50 lakhs. Besides, it helps in improving the room occupancy rate of the hotel by 20-30% and increasing food and beverage sale.
Besides organising kitschy weddings, increasing number of corporate events including gala lunch and dinners for corporate honchos have become a routine affair for heritage hotels.
“Ernst &Young, HDFC, ICICI and Whirlpool are some of our corporate clients who have organised events at our heritage property. Off-site business conferences is one of our consistent sources of income now,” says Gauraav Singh Rathore, CEO, The Sariska Palace — a heritage property in Rajasthan.
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Contrary to previous trends where Heritage properties were largely visited by foreigners, now even Indian tourists are thronging these heritage properties like never before. Off-season or peak season, its party time for heritage property owners. Start a SIP with as low as ₹500 with ET Money App!
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