How to drive efficiency and value with a business-focussed hotel brand

IBIS Delhi airport

Ibis Hotels offer smart technology and high quality products at competitive price points along with brand proliferation. As a group, InterGlobe Hotels drive brand value. J.B. Singh, President & CEO, InterGlobe Hotels feels that a lot of effort has been spent in getting the right acoustics when it comes to building the brand.

“Since we largely cater to the business segment, we ensure that our guests feel comfortable. That’s why we have worked on sleep comfort with the best combination of mattresses and pillows to give our guests a complete sleep that dovetails with our acoustics,” he said.

Having worked as the President & CEO for InterGlobe Technology Quotient (ITQ), and an experience spanning over 29 years in strategic roles across various travel organisations, Singh feels that Interglobe’s partnership with Accor is quite relative in India.

“There is no other brand other than Accor that has proven success record in the budget space. With the confidence to come to a new country like India and invest in such a large setup, the brand really wants to see growth in India and that too in the top space.

“So as a brand, IGH really wanted to grow in this space. With every hotel, we are becoming efficient and improving brand value,” he said.

While most of the ibis hotels are built in the business districts, some properties are catering to the leisure side as well. Ibis new Delhi Aerocity has introduced new elements in the hotel – the specially-curated ‘MyRoom’ concept – where each room narrates a unique story of its employees designed by them.

For instance, a room designed like a Rajasthani haveli with a heritage setup or a specially curated Bollywood style room, even better, a sporty look in the basketball room or a beach-side setup to beat your Monday morning blues.

Not only this, celebrating 10 years of ibis journey in India, last month the group launched, ibism, a new campaign to reach out to a larger and more diverse audiences, who are looking for quirky and distinguished travel experiences. ibism promises the most friendly experiences for the guests. The campaign is designed to place people (employees and customers) at the heart of everything, it is all about making guests feel welcomed, heart-warmed, incredible and like they belong.

Ibis is also looking at the renovated look and feel of some of the properties in a few months, starting in Kolkata and Mumbai offering a warm and residential feel to its guests. Talking about the investment, Singh said, “We have committed investments of up to Rs 2,600 crore in the business and have brought our costs down by over 30 percent by relooking at every component of building the project.”

2018 looks promising for InterGlobe Hotels. The opening of Ibis Kolkata will commence operations in Q4, 2018 (189 rooms), seven hotels are under development in 2018 and total portfolio of 23 hotels with approximately 4,000 rooms by 2022.