The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group which runs the Radisson brand of hotels among others, is looking at several new locations across India to add new properties

"Over the next year, we will open more 13 hotels in India," says K. B. Kachru, Chairman, South Asia, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. 

"We are hoteliers and we will go wherever there is opportunity," adds Kachru, maintaining his group was unaffected by political developments . "We are hoping to have at least three more hotels (in addition to the one in Hyderabad) in Andhra Pradesh by 2015." 

There are several locations the group is looking at in cities and towns such as Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupati, Warangal and Karimnagar as per a Business Today report. 

In Andhra Pradesh, the focus will be on mid-scale offerings. "What we have internally analysed and found is that Andhra Pradesh is a bigger market for mid-scale than upscale hotels," says Kachru.  

"It is a good strategy, except in the metro towns, because in the metros real estate is so expensive that building luxury hotels is the only alternative," he says. "You cannot build a mid-scale hotel with land costs being 40 to 50 per cent of the total project cost. You will never make money."

The group, essentially a management and franchise company, does not own any properties in India. It has 63 projects in the country today and an additional 44 under development.

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