Amatra aims 20 properties by end 2020
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Amatra Hotels and Resort, which currently operates ‘Amatra by the Ganges’ at Rajaji National Park and ‘Amatra Dunsvirk Court’ at Mussoorie, is going fast with its expansion plan. Anurag Dua, COO & Co-Founder, Amatra Hotels and Resort, shares the expansion plan of the Group.
What trends do you see in the hospitality industry?
Hospitality segment used to be the first to face downfall in profits during times of economic slowdowns due to several factors like corporate budget deficits, lack of internet and connectivity, and the absence of OTAs.
However, over the last 5 years, in spite of the slowdown, the Travel & Hospitality industry has seen some positive emerging trends. The introduction of new platforms, the next generation of young adults, new locations, tech-driven travel, the influx of international travelers, more job opportunities as a traveler and increased emphasis on traveling for personal health and well-being, are the growth factors. Travel as of today is not limited to any small standing trend such as adventure tourism. People have all sorts of reasons to travel. The Young traveler trusts in living in the present and invests money to explore new places. With locations becoming more accessible than before and affordable via platforms like Airbnb, it is today possible to travel more frequently and explore new destinations. The Travel & Hospitality sector is seeing the reversing of earlier trends positively with more expenditure diverted towards traveling. Further, we believe that the travel market long rally has just begun and this time the rally is expected to soar much higher.
What are your plans of expansion?
We have introduced ourselves in the Indian market with two properties, both are positioned in Uttarakhand. Our first property is ‘Amatra by the Ganges’ at Rajaji National Park and the second property is ‘Amatra Dunsvirk Court’ at Mussoorie. We see a huge gap in the branded supply of leisure destinations across India, like Mukhteshwar. In India, we expect our portfolio to grow aggressively with at least 7 new resorts inaugurating within this year and this number will go up to 20 by the end of next year. We shall also be entering and catering to the International destinations, which has a budding present in Hospitality & Travel, namely Thailand, Indonesia, Maldives, and Vietnam to begin with.
Which cities are next in pipeline?
In India, we are actively targeting Goa, Jim Corbett, Mukhteshwar, Jaipur, Udaipur, Coorg, Munnar, and Manali. These places hold the most prospects for regular tourist footfall. Alongside this, we plan to build properties that are perfect for leisure across multiple tourist cities.
What are the plans on hiring front when major sectors plan to cut down on employees?
At Amatra our employees are the lifelines of the company. They provide us with strength and have collectively contributed towards the success and the vision of Amatra. Amatra holds the value of all employees participating at all fronts to achieve our collective dream.
Amatra currently has employee strength of approx. 200 people and we expect the same to grow up to 1000 people within a time span of 2 years, thereby creating an additional 800 jobs in the Hospitality & Travel industry.
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