Marriott International has ambitious plans for India. Rajeev menon - Vice-President of Marriott in-charge of operations in India, Australia, Maldives and Malaysia recently spoke about the groups journey & upcoming projects. 

Excerpts of his interview as below

How would you describe your India experience so far?

Oh! Our India experience is phenomenal. We are 12 years old in India. Our journey started in December 1999 with the opening of the Goa Marriott Resort, and subsequently we opened three properties over three years — the Renaissance Mumbai Hotel, Marriott Executive Apartments and the famous JW Marriott in Mumbai. However, our real growth spurt started about a couple of years ago. Starting late 2009, we opened eight hotels. Our JW Marriott in Chandigarh is the 13th and this (Jaipur Marriott) is our 14th hotel in India. So, now we have an inventory of 3,200 rooms in India — across five brands — JW Marriott, Marriott, Marriott Executive Apartments, Renaissance, and Courtyard by Marriott. 

What is your India game plan?

We have aggressive growth plans. We are on a journey to have 100 hotels and over 15,000 rooms up and running by 2015. Before the end of this year, we will open a Courtyard by Marriot at the City Centre in Pune and our third JW Marriott in Bangalore.

Are you among the fastest growing foreign hotel brands in India?

Well. We are a pure management company. We have not franchised any hotel. From that point of view, yes, we have 14 hotels with an over 3,200-room inventory … maybe one of the fastest growing international brands in India today.

Of all your brands in India, which do you think suits India the most and will grow the fastest?

We see opportunities across the board. However, as we speak today, the fastest growing brand is Courtyard by Marriott. As that's our four-star brand and can get into the Tier-II and Tier-III markets too. As of now, we have six Courtyards … one opening next month and another 18 under construction. And, interestingly, the second fastest growing brand is the JW Marriott. Now, we have two JW Marriotts open and another eight under construction. After that, comes Marriott, and then Renaissance. But, when we bring our Fairfield brand to India, as we are planning to, I have a distinct feeling it will end up becoming the fastest growing brand here. Again, because it falls in a little lower segment and is much easier to build … and also can go to a lot more places than even the Courtyard.

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