One of India’s fastest-growing hotel chain, Cygnett Hotels & Resorts is aiming to have a portfolio of 100 hotels in the next five years.
The hospitality chain at present has a majority of its hotels under the management model. However, it is planning to increase its share of franchise-based hotels moving ahead.
“Earlier, our only thrust was only on the management model but now we are also focusing on the franchise model. One of the brands that we view is well-positioned to grow as a franchise-based model is Cygnett Inn. If our brand standards are met, we are open to tie-up with hotel owners who may be facing a difficulty in business in the wake of the pandemic and offer our franchise solution to them,” said Sarbendra Sarkar, Founder, Cygnett Hotels & Resorts. Cygnett Inn is a budget hotel brand of the group.
The hospitality player is also keen to spread its wing internationally in markets like South East Asia and the Middle East through the franchise model. At present, it has one property internationally in Nepal.
“We are expecting to have 25 percent of our properties in India under the franchise model and the rest under the management model. However, internationally we will focus more on the franchise model to grow our footprint,” said Sarkar.
Cygnett at present has only three hotels under the franchise model. It has an overall portfolio of 35 hotels, of which three are yet to open and 12 projects at various pre-opening stages.
“We are a tech-savvy hospitality company. Even before the pandemic, we were having contactless check-in in our properties and using QR scanning to help guests see the menu in a restaurant. So, individual properties besides getting our brand name and sales and marketing support from our end will also benefit hugely from our technology adoption. We are already adopting emerging cloud technology which has helped to enhance efficiency in our properties,” added Sarkar.
Cygnett offers training to staff of its partner hotels as well under its franchise model. It has also an e-learning module, which helps staff to learn from their premises.