#HAF: “Our business model is different, as we are asset owners”

Emmanuelle Tulliez: Would you be kind enough to introduce Minor Hotels to us?

Dillip Rajakarier: I think if you look at Minor Hotels as a company, we have two listed companies now. One in Thailand, called the Land of Smiles, and the other one, which is in Spain, is NH Hotels, which we acquired in 2018. We now have a portfolio of about 540 hotels. Today, we announced three hotels in Paris, even though we have another six hotels in France. So, our portfolio is quite strong. We are one of the global companies expanding quite fast. We have only eight brands, and our brand propositions and brand values are very defined, ranging from luxury to upscale, to up upscale, to midscale. We also have one brand in Africa called Elewana, which is a top safari brand only. 

So, our brand portfolio is well-defined. We are not just hoteliers; we are into spas, wellness, residential or branded residences, and food and beverage, which is quite significant for us. We acquired the Wolseley Hospitality Group in London a few years ago and just opened the second Wolseley in London City. It’s a diversified portfolio of hotels. The Anantara, of course, represents our top luxury hotels, and through the NH acquisition, we were able to bring some of the Anantara brands into Europe. We have also taken NH Hotels from Europe to Asia and the Middle East, where we recently opened several hotels. The company is growing fast.

Emmanuelle Tulliez: What are your priorities and ambitions for the European market?

Dillip Rajakarier: I think Europe has suffered the most during the past two years due to COVID, whereas the Middle East, Maldives, and Asia have suffered less. We are quite diversified, and our ambition for Europe is to expand. Our business...