Exclusive | Aiming for ten properties in India: Sofitel's Markland Blaiklock

Sofitel Luxury Hotels, the only French brand in the luxury hotel sector continues to strengthen its presence across the globe with majority of development in Asia Pacific & Middle East regions in 2013. The group has announced the opening of three new hotels in key regional markets that the Indian outbound traveller has shown considerable interest in, including Sofitel Dubai The Palm Resort, Sofitel So Singapore and Sofitel Bali. During a regional event at the Sofitel Mumbai in Bandra Kurla Complex, recently Mr. Markland Blaiklock - Senior Vice President and Head of the Asia Pacific Region, announced the group’s continuous dynamic growth in the world and outlined two high priority brand objectives moving towards 2015.

Sofitel Luxury Hotels, the only French Luxury Hospitality brand in the world, is eyeing ten properties in India, mainly in prime luxury destinations. Sofitel’s strength lies in its French heritage amalgamated with the local culture which helps build brand differentiation and identity. It draws on the unique French art of hospitality and blends it with the very best of the local cultures where the brand operates its hotels to offer unique experiences to their guests and clients.

The brand has plans of opening two new hotels in India by year 2017 – Sofitel Mumbai Mulund and Sofitel So Mumbai Mulund. Mulund is an upcoming suburb of Mumbai situated in the North East of the city and nestled in the foothills of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park with easy access to the Eastern Express Highway and Navi Mumbai through the Mulund Airoli Bridge. It is one of Mumbai’s first planned suburbs and has become a testament today to India’s growing middle class and its aspirational style of living.

Adgully, caught up with Markland Blaiklock, Senior VP & Head of the  Asia Pacific Region with an aim to understand the strategy and roadmap of the French brand that is making waves globally.

Outlining two high priority brand objectives moving towards 2015, he said, “We aim to increase brand value by pursuing targeted developments in key capital cities and major tourist destinations in the region, and to expand to a total of 150 hotels globally.”

Over the last five years, Sofitel Luxury Hotels has strongly established itself as a luxury hotel with a difference. They are focused on setting new luxury benchmarks by redefining elements of the brand to offer guests a “cousu main” service or service from the heart.

Speaking about the acceptance of Sofitel luxury hotels and their customer’s satisfaction, he said, “Sofitel stands tall in terms of uniqueness.  Each of our hotels is different in terms of modern designs, and with each hotel we build a story and connection around friends and destinations. Once you get up in the morning your first preference is breakfast, so we serve wines and croissants and pastries a ritual that France is known for. The best croissants you will ever find will be served in Sofitel.”

The luxury brand believes in focusing on healthy gastronomy and fine wines.

The Brand started re-positioning in 2007-2008 and is now considered as a luxury brand with an extensive network of more than 200 hotels.  The hotels were renovated and re - positioned as per the brand’s ethos and a lot of new properties in most strategic and city centric locations and destinations were added. “The success of our repositioning exercise has not only reinforced our commitment to enhance the Sofitel Luxury Hotels brand portfolio but has also provided further impetus to expand our presence in critical markets around the world,” he said.

Sofitel offers contemporary hotels and resorts adapted to today’s more demanding and more versatile consumers who expect and appreciate beauty, quality and excellence.

Business development for Sofitel Luxury Hotels has been on a continuing upward trend globally and Asia Pacific remains one of the fastest-growing regions amongst the group. In early 2014 they intend opening Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort, which will bring a touch of Balinese charm, celebration and luxury to the beautiful destination. The target and aim is to attract a large number of Indian travellers to visit all these properties by Sofitel Luxury Hotels. In his regard he says, “Markets like India have always given us great opportunities in terms of expanding and reaching the hearts of the audience. Currently we are only in Mumbai but in India markets like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Goa seem to be a great fit for our brand and we expect good amount of results from those markets.”

There are two labels that come under the brand Sofitel. They are Sofitel Legend and Sofitel Elaborating further about them Blaiklock said, “Sofitel Legend hotels are iconic and mythical; they are often centuries-old listed heritage buildings such as Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam, Sofitel Legend Old Cataract Aswan and Sofitel Legend Santa Clara Cartagena. On the other hand ‘Sofitel So hotels’ are new ‘boutique hotels’ characterized by a stylish focus on contemporary design by famous architects and/or embellished by international celebrities from the world of fashion, design or art. Sofitel So Mauritius Bel Ombre, Sofitel So Bangkok and Sofitel So Singapore (2014) fall under this label.”

Sofitel So, are boutique hotels with a deeper emphasis on edgy design (signed off by world class designers such as Monsieur Christian Lacroix) and targeted to younger luxury customers, while Sofitel Legend are legendary palaces and properties, that have now become a Sofitel Hotel, maintaining the highest brand standards of a Sofitel Luxury Hotel and giving an experience fit for the ultimate connoisseurs of luxury and heritage.

Being a French brand, France has been their paramount and dominant market. The French luxury hotel brand has a presence in Paris which has always been a popular tourist destination, and also in capital cities with flagship hotels in London and New York, and has good presence in North America.

“Most of the luxury hotels and travel agencies are based in America, so it's an important market for us. In the region of South East Asia, China is a big part of our development. Above 50 percent of our hotels are in China, in primary cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and we are planning to enter other capital cities like Tianjin and Nanjing. Our legend labels are our flagship hotels in these regions,” he added.

During 2012-13, the Sofitel brand has won over 250 awards around the globe, including the worldwide award, led by the “School of Excellence” initiative being named the best “talent and skills” by MKG Hospitality Awards. Customer satisfaction of Sofitel has reached 94% thus, reflecting the strong brand and it’s persistent brand values that have been built over the years

Sofitel Luxury Hotels, the only French Luxury Hospitality brand in the world, is eyeing ten properties in India, mainly in prime luxury destinations.

Commenting on their India plans and on a concluding note Blaiklock said, “Currently, we have one property in India which has completed a year. We have two more hotels coming up under Sofitel Luxury Hotel and Sofitel So brands. We hope to sign another seven management contracts taking the total to ten in a couple of years”.