NEW DELHI—With properties in new markets, a growing midscale brand and plenty of plans for the future, The Lalit Group of hotels has evolved over the past few years through changes in its family ownership and a new business environment.
Steering the ship since the 2006 death of her husband and Lalit Group founder and chairman Lalit Suri, chairperson and managing director Jyotsna Suri has directed the company’s positioning and growth in recent years.
“When I took over, the most challenging task was to successfully carry forward the legacy of our founder and chairman, Lalit Suri,” she said. “Now, the focus is to establish and deliver that level of efficiency to all the guests.”
The company is opening its first hotel outside of India later this year—The Lalit London—and that move represents the tremendous brand value the company has grown over the past few years, Suri said.
Brand history
When Lalit Suri founded the company in 1988, the New Dehli-based group saw early success by establishing itself as a brand player in the then-growing hotel industry in India. Following Lalit Suri’s death, Jyotsna Suri had the task of rebranding and repositioning the company. She worked to grow it to its present state at a time that the competitive hotel industry in India was continually changing.
“Though I was working as the joint managing director, it was daunting to step into Mr. Lalit Suri’s shoes,” she said. “I had to establish my credibility internally and with the external world as well. The major transition came when we rebranded the company in the name of its founder chairman. Carving a new identity for an already existing brand with fresh ideologies was most challenging.”
New name, new goals, new markets
The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group is an enterprise of India’s Bharat Hotels Limited, and when Jyotsna Suri took over the company, she underwent the task of re-shaping the company’s identity.
“Bharat Hotels initially had a franchise with international chains like Holiday Inn, Hilton and InterContinental,” she said. “It was in 2008 that we carved out a new identity and rebranded all hotels in the name of our founder and chairman, Lalit Suri. Now, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group is India’s largest privately owned hotel chain. We describe ourselves as ‘traditionally modern, subtly luxurious and distinctly Lalit.’ We have established ourselves as a strong brand and therefore do not feel the need to tie up with any other foreign brand.”
The company has 11 Lalit-branded hotels open and six under development/renovation, comprised of 3,600 guestrooms.
Next up will be the brand’s expansion outside of India.
“We are all geared for the launch of The Lalit London located near the Tower Bridge, toward the end of 2016,” she said.
The historic property blends “the best of Indian culture, hospitality and cuisine with the finest Victorian architecture,” she said. “This luxury boutique hotel is set to become one of the city’s most unique and desirable destinations.”
In 2011, the company ventured beyond luxury with the launch of its midscale hotel brand, Lalit Traveller, which has two properties currently open.
“I strongly feel the mid-segment hotels will be the ones to drive the industry,” Jyotsna Suri said. “The first hotel under this brand opened in Jaipur, followed by Khajuraho (India). With more hotels planned in the next five years, we are really excited about this segment.”
Next steps
Incorporating the unique characteristics of each hotel’s location is an important part of the company’s goals, she said. It’s positioning itself to “develop destinations and not just hotels,” she said.
“We feel that it is the local people at the destinations who account for the success of the group’s hotels,” she said. “Therefore, our initiatives involve the local population, their handicrafts, culture, food. The economic benefits of tourism bring peace and prosperity to the region, and in return we have reaped ample goodwill of the people.”
The Indian hotel industry has very few women entrepreneurs, and Jyotsna Suri summed it up by saying, “there is no replacement for hard work.”
“If you are consistent and meticulous in your efforts, gender becomes irrelevant,” she said. “I have been fortunate to be born and raised without any disparity, therefore I never consider my gender as a hindrance in my personal or professional journey.“