Gopinath takes the hospitality route; plans nationwide hotels chain

Mumbai: Captain G R Gopinath, who charted the low-cost air travel route with his Deccan Aviation, is  now entering the hospitality business with plans for a nation-wide chain of hotels and resorts.

Gopinath is teaming up with other promoters -  Madhu Konety, an investment banker from the US, and Girish Rao, former head of Tangerin Hospitality and former marketing head of Leela Hotels, Palaces & Resorts for his new venture.

Konety, an institutional investor, has interest and investments in India, Europe and the US.

Plans are to build a country-wide chain of mid-tier business hotels and resorts - some 1,000 hotels across 100 cities and towns over a span of ten years. Each hotel will have about 50 to 125 rooms depending on the location and will need an average investment of around Rs50 crore.

Due to the large investment involved, promoters are said to be looking at a split business model. While they will own and operate a large number of hotels, many will also be marketed under the franchise route, reports said.

The projects are expected to go on stream by the end of the year and a formal announcement is expected next month.

Though the brand name for the hotel chain is yet to be finalized, Gopinath and his team are currently on a hiring spree for talent to head the business from overseas.