EDITOR ’ S DIARY
PASSION FOR HOSPITALITY
EVOLVING MAKEUP of the 325
Between aggregators like China ’ s Jin Jiang International to industry unicorn Oyo Hotels & Homes , the complexion of HOTELS annual 325 is evolving at a pace not seen before .
In this month ’ s annual ranking , yes , Marriott International holds onto the top spot after what now feels like an ancient deal to acquire Starwood Hotels & Resorts . But this year Hilton dipped to No . 3 behind Chinese state-owned Jin Jiang , which leaped up the ranking after its November 2018 acquisition of Radisson Hotel Group and its almost 200,000 rooms from China ’ s HNA Group .
Editor In Chief
In the past four years , Jin Jiang has become a keen acquirer and was not told to sell off assets , as had been the case for some of its more leveraged Chinese contemporaries like HNA Group , Anbang and Wanda Hotels & Resorts . Instead , Jin Jiang has been on an impressive run : It acquired the 100,000-plusroom Louvre Hotels Group from France , as well as India ’ s Sarovar Hotels & Resorts . Inside China it added Vienna Hotels Group , Plateno Group and 7 Days Group . Jin Jiang ’ s own Jin Jiang Inn brand alone accounted for another 130,000 rooms at the end of 2018 . If that ’ s not enough , Jin Jiang is Accor ’ s biggest shareholder , with a nearly 12 % stake .
While Jin Jiang will have its hands full integrating Radisson into its system , it ’ s anyone ’ s guess where it will go next for growth , but aspiration does not appear to be lacking . In fact , China as a nation is embracing hospitality and the hotel business like no other , now with six of this year ’ s top 20 giants based there .
The other story emerging from this year ’ s ranking is , undoubtedly , Oyo , an industry disruptor with a unique model . It is taking thousands upon thousands of unbranded , shabby hotels ( in many cases converted extra rooms sitting atop an industrial building ) and converting them to franchises or leases with a new , standardized product rented with high occupancies at technology-optimized bargain rates .
Oyo Founder Ritesh Agarwal , at the tender age of 25 , to date has recruited more than US $ 1.5 billion in equity from banks , venture capitalists and even Airbnb to reach a valuation north of US $ 5 billion . At press time , Oyo reported it had grown to more than 23,000 hotels , 850,000 rooms and 46,000 vacation rental homes across 80-plus countries , with a predominance of its inventory still in India and China . It is now making inroads in the United States , where it says it has over 50 Oyo buildings in more than 35 cities and 10 states , including popular markets like Dallas , Houston , Atlanta and Miami .
While not without its growing pains and horror stories of extremely poorly run rooms , Agarwal has gone as far as to project listing 2.5 million Oyo rooms worldwide by 2023 .
Oyo is not an apples-to-apples comparison versus rooms from players like Hilton and Accor , but it is breaking the mold , especially in the enormous budget segment . In India alone , Oyo expects revenue for the year ended March 31 , 2019 , at US $ 200 million , triple the previous year . But this development does show how this annual ranking might further evolve as tradition continues to get thrown out the window .
EDITORIAL Jeff Weinstein , Editor In Chief 1.312.274.2226 E-mail : jweinstein @ hotelsmag . com Barbara Bohn , Managing Editor 1.312.274.2209 E-mail : bbohn @ hotelsmag . com Chloe Riley , Associate Editor 1.312.274.2229 E-mail : criley @ hotelsmag . com Bert Ganzon , Senior Art Director 1.312.274.2227 E-mail : bganzon @ mtgmediagroup . com Steve Vanden Heuvel , Senior Art Director 1.312.274.2218 E-mail : svandenheuvel @ mtgmediagroup . com Brittney Hackbart , Associate Art Director 1.312.274.2216 E-mail : bhackbart @ mtgmediagroup . com Michelle Villadolid , Freelance Design E-mail : mvilladolid @ mtgmediagroup . com Bill McDowell , Vice President , Editorial Director 1.312.274.2201 bmcdowell @ mtgmediagroup . com
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Judith Crown , Megan Rowe , Juliana Shallcross , Erin Sund
PUBLISHING David Wood , Publisher 1.312.274.2225 dwood @ hotelsmag . com Bill Kinross , Vice President , Group Publisher 312 / 274-2214 bkinross @ meatingplace . com
INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD Nakul Anand Executive Director , ITC Ltd ., Gurgaon , India Stephen Bartolin President , Broadmoor Sea Island Co ., Colorado Springs , Colorado Alex Kyriakidis President and Managing Director , Middle East and Africa , Marriott International , Dubai Christopher Nassetta President and CEO , Hilton Worldwide , McLean , Virginia Monika Nerger Chief Information Officer , Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group , Atlanta Paul Sistare President and CEO , Atlantica Hotels International , São Paulo Susan Terry Vice president of culinary and food and beverage operations , Marcus Hotels & Resorts , Milwaukee , Wisconsin
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6 hotelsmag . com July / August 2019