Aggressively Eyeing the Inbound MICE and Business Travel Market: Sunil Gupta, WelcomHeritage

by  EVENTFAQS Bureau Industry Watch | August 3, 2018 | News

A 50:50 percent joint venture between ITC Ltd. and Jodhana Heritage, ‘WelcomeHeritage’ was formed in the year 1997 and has in just 17 years of its existence established itself as a leading hospitality brand representing an eclectic mix of premium heritage hotels. With a total of 42 heritage hotel properties spanning over 15 states in India, the custodians at WelcomeHeritage are aggressively eyeing the inbound MICE market and the top business traveller segment with a unique set of customised and innovative offerings.

In an exclusive conversation with EVENTFAQS, Sunil Gupta, CEO, WelcomHeritage talks about the newest offerings from the hospitality giant, their marketing strategies and estimated growth in the segment.

“We are aggressively eyeing the top inbound MICE market in India and the luxury business travel segment since that is the crux of all our offerings at WelcomeHeritage. Our hotels are drenched in the glorious cultural heritage of India and our endeavour is to combine the same with comfort and modern technology for our audiences. Smaller and top-end MICE groups, corporates with intimate meeting requirements are an important part of the market that we are essentially targeting.”

The newest addition to the heritage hotel properties from the group is WelcomeHeritage Ashdale. Nestled amidst green oaks, deodars and a beautiful kidney shaped lake reflecting the green from the densely forested hills that surround it, the hotel is a 19th-century bungalow with a picturesque view of the city of Nainital. The hotel has rooms in the Premier, Superior, Regent and Heritage rooms categories with an additional meeting space and outdoor area that make it the perfect choice for corporate getaways and business leisure trips. Making the property more remarkable is the hotel gallery adorned with pictures full of history and the clever integration of technology.  

Talking about the marketing strategy in place for the WelcomeHeritage group, Gupta responds, “Our marketing strategies are devised around the concept of peace and tranquillity and this is what we offer to the top corporates and business travellers that we extensively network with. We also work with multiple corporate event and meeting planners for the same as we are the biggest operators in the heritage hospitality segment consisting of 42 of the overall 284 heritage properties in the country.”

“Distribution is the key for any line of business and in the hospitality segment, the traditional way of distribution is done through aggregators. However, in the modern day and age, people value technology over everything else and hence, we are investing significantly in this space to ensure that our distribution and marketing processes are not only convenient for our audiences but also very simplified.”- Gupta adds.

Speaking about the upcoming hotel properties this year and the overall view of the offerings, Gupta comments, “WelcomHeritage currently offers 42 stunning experiential properties under its umbrella. These include 11 properties under the Legend Hotels segment, 13 under the nature resorts segment, and 17 under the Heritage Hotels segment. We now look forward to unveiling 4 new properties this year.”