With online marketplaces like Airbnb starting operations in India, leading hospitality chain Oberoi Group today said such “disruptive” business models would have minimal impact on its operations.
With online marketplaces like Airbnb starting operations in India, leading hospitality chain Oberoi Group today said such “disruptive” business models would have minimal impact on its operations. “Disruptive business models are not affecting our businesses now. But we will continue to pay attention on these disruptive models,” CEO and MD of EIH Ltd Vikram Oberoi told reporters after the company’s AGM here.
“However it will be wrong to say that there will be absolutely zero impact in future. But the impact will be minimal,” Oberoi said.
Online marketplaces like, Airbnb enables people to list, find, then rent vacation homes for a processing fee.
He said going by the kind of luxury properties Oberoi had in India and abroad, tourists would generally prefer to avail of the facilities provided in these hotels instead of opting for such online marketplaces.
Referring to room aggregators, he said they were partners in carrying the business forward.
In his speech to the shareholders, executive chairman of EIH Ltd P R S Oberoi said the first quarter of current fiscal suffered a loss owing to the closure of New Delhi Oberoi. He said the hotel was closed for renovation and refurbishing at a cost of Rs 500 crore. It would be re-opened in April 2018.
Going forward, EIH would be more interested in managing properties rather than owning them.
“We are having too many real estate”, he said.
Talking about Oberoi Grand Kolkata, he said a new restaurant would come up very shortly.
Shares of EIH Ltd on Wednesday fell as much as six per cent in morning trade after the hospitality major, which runs hotels and resorts under Oberoi and Trident brands, posted a net loss at Rs 12.24 crore for the June quarter.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 21.15 crore for the April-June quarter of the previous fiscal.
Reacting to the numbers, the shares opened on a weak note at Rs 114.00, then slumped 5.89 per cent to an early low of Rs 109.30 on the BSE. Similarly, on the NSE, the stock opened at Rs 113.70, then slipped 4.33 per cent to Rs 111.35 in morning trade.
Standalone total income from operations also declined to Rs 276.17 crore for the quarter under review as against Rs 301.04 crore for the same period a year ago.
Market experts said the fall was largely because the company reported a loss in the first quarter.
