Hospitality industry: Hotel One focusing on neglected cities, says CEO

Management plans to gain strength in Pakistan before venturing abroad.

LAHORE: Bleak investment environment shuns many hospitality chains from the industry in Pakistan. However, a large number of local and international names still believe that there is a hub of available opportunities for them to expand their operations by providing affordable and quality services.

In Pakistan, Hashoo Group is one of the leading names in hospitality services, owning five-star chains of hotels like Pearl Continental and Marriot. These chains are meant for a specific set of travellers and business-corporate groups. Apart from this, Hashoo group is penetrating the market via its ancillary, Hotel one, a three-star chain which, since its inception in 2008, has managed to operate 12 properties and is looking to touch 50 in the future.

“Our focus is on cities which were neglected in the past,” Haseeb Gardezi, chief executive officer Hotel One, told The Express Tribune. “We are getting good results by providing affordable and quality services to people of such cities at 50% cheaper prices.”



Hotel One currently operates in 9 cities — Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Multan, Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur, Sialkot, Faisalabad and Murree. Out of a total of 12 properties, only four are being operated by Hotel One whereas the rest are operated by private investors via their franchise model. According to Gardezi, this model is being adopted all over the world, in order to create favourable business opportunities for business partners, and to create employment.

Due to the law and order situation, international travelling and tourism, which are believed to be the backbone of hospitality industry, is at its lowest. But at the same time, local travellers, who previously found it tough to find some reasonable and affordable accommodation in cities like Bahawalpur, Sialkot, Faisalabad, now have an affordable option. Before this such business delegations preferred to stay in major cities.

“We want to penetrate the rest of the country to become a brand which people look for when they travel. This will encourage many other players to follow in our footprints, which will create an atmosphere of competition. The ultimate beneficiaries of this would be the visitors.”

For giving one franchise, the company charges a fee of Rs3 million. According to Gardezi, Hotel One takes 10%-15% of net sales from their franchisee. Its share fluctuates from franchise to franchise depending on the covered area of the property. “For low number of rooms, our share is more compared to properties which have a greater number of rooms.”

The future plan for the company is to focus on some resorts in the country’s mountainous vacation spots, where currently there are very few hotels. The company has already developed a resort in Murree, and has pipeline projects to open in Abbotabad, Mansehra and Naran. The company is also planning to operate globally in the gulf, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia as a part of their future policy, though the first focus is to strengthen in Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2013.

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