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ZURI Hotels & Resorts was launched in April 2009 and, with six properties in its portfolio, the company is now on a mission to expand its brand globally primarily in the Middle East and European markets.
Speaking to TTN, managing director Bobby Kamani explained: “Until a year ago all our properties were tied up with Radisson on a franchise basis. With six properties, we realised it was a matter of natural progression to launch our own brand and have not looked back since.
“Working with Radisson, we found that there was a mismatch between the product we were offering and the brand. Our pool villas were sold at $1,000 per night, a price guests would not pay for a Radisson. We realised that instead of tying up with another brand, this was an opportunity for us to create our own – and this led to the birth of Zuri,” said Kamani.
Today Zuri Hotels & Resorts owns and operates six luxury properties – the The Zuri Whitefield, Bengaluru, Zuri Kumarakom Resort & Spa, Kerala, Zuri Varca, White Sands Resort & Casino, Goa and the The Retreat by Zuri, Goa. Properties outside India are Diani Reef Beach Resort & Spa in Mombasa, Kenya and The Liner in Liverpool, England.
While last year was a difficult time for the hospitality industry, Kamani believes the brand’s long-term strategy and five-star luxury product has helped it grow.
He said: “Our resorts fared very well last year, with the help of both international and domestic clientele. The domestic market helped us maintain good revpar for the year. We saw occupancies drop by 25 per cent in our city hotels but, post October, this has improved. Currently the resorts are doing an average of 75 per cent occupancy.”
Plans are ongoing to open a 50-room boutique hotel in Sikkim in northeast India and a 120-room business property in Kolkata in West Bengal. The company is also seeking opportunities in Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad.
“We are also building a new five-star airport hotel with a mall and commercial space in Bengaluru and a second one in Nairobi, Kenya,” said Kamani.
“Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on development in India and Africa. In terms of management we are also looking at the Middle East. Africa is the new Asia in my opinion. We hope to soon have hotels in more African countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, Mauritius and South Africa. We intend to achieve global recognition for the brand.”
Last year, when the markets were suffering, at Zuri hotels focus and time was spent on developing the human resource team, including cross-cultural team exercises.
“We understand the requirements of our guests. At the Zuri Kumarakom, for example, one of our first Arab guests checked into our presidential pool villa which faces the Vembanad Lake. Besides the view they also wanted privacy, so we set up barricades especially for our Arab guests. Efforts like these are part of the job in order to ensure our guests are comfortable” said Kamani.
Looking ahead, Kamani hopes to increase the Zuri portfolio to 30 hotels in the next five years.