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Symphony Resorts uses Simplotel to hit 25% of its total occupancy in direct website bookings
Home > Success Stories > Symphony Resorts
Website Traffic for the Andaman Islands-based Resort Chain Goes Up 5x After Onboarding Simplotel
Most of us do not take the road less traveled. But then you have Sarovar Hotels and Resorts who did, and they became trailblazers in the Indian hospitality industry.
Sarovar operates 96 hotels across 55 destinations worldwide. One of the leading hotel chains in India, Sarovar was founded by Anil Madhok (Executive Chairman) and Ajay Bakaya (Managing Director) nearly a quarter of a century ago. Sarovar Hotels was the first mover in India to adopt the asset-light model, where it manages and services other hotel properties through strategic alliances with other chains.
Sarovar started operations when it took franchises of Park Plaza and Park Inn brands for India. A decade later (circa 2005), Sarovar began promoting its own brands: Portico, Hometel and Premiere. Fast-forward to another decade and the Louvre Hotels Group, one of Europe’s leading hospitality brands, purchased a stake in Sarovar in 2017. Another milestone in this impressive growth story.
Symphony Resorts is a family-owned hospitality chain in the Andaman Islands. It is run by brothers Tanveer Singh and Jaikar Singh. Tanveer is the Director of Marketing & Sales, and Jaikar is the Director of New Business Development.
Symphony Resorts operates with two brands. In 1993, Hotel Shompen became Port Blair's first private hotel, launched by Singhotel Hospitality. Following this, Symphony Resorts emerged as the second brand. It now boasts three properties: Symphony Samudra Beachside Jungle Resort & Spa in Port Blair, Symphony Palms Beach Resort & Spa in Havelock Island, and Symphony Summer Sand Beach Resort & Spa in Neil Island.
Shatabdi Dutta, General Manager (Marketing) at Sarovar, believes that Simplotel’s USP is its digital marketing service. “Simplotel helped us rank in terms of traffic generation across online channels and drive conversions. We received great technical support from the team, which we lacked earlier. The website design is great and user friendly. We have received positive feedback from guests that the booking journey does not take much time, is hassle free, and most importantly, the mobile site is responsive!”
Challenges:
The previous website was a static brochure.
The booking journey was not seamless.
Symphony Resorts had separate vendors for the website and booking engine.This made the guest booking journey a disjointed experience.
Symphony Resorts had also lost its website domain once.
Minuscule direct-booking revenue.
Simplotel Hotel E-commerce Solution:
Since 2020, Symphony Resorts has leveraged both the Simplotel Hotel Website Builder and Simplotel Booking Engine.
Jaikar Singh, a fourth-generation hotelier, says, “We wanted a one-stop, e-commerce solution for our hotel. When we heard about Simplotel, we knew they were the right partner for us. After onboarding Simplotel, all our technical concerns have been solved. The guest booking journey is now seamless. We generate 60% of our total occupancy through online channels. Direct website bookings now account for 25% of our total occupancy across all three Symphony Resorts, and Hotel Shompen. I would even say our website bookings outdo any of our respective OTA bookings.” Additionally, website traffic across the chain has grown 5x since onboarding Simplotel.
Jaikar Singh says there are plans for expansion. “Symphony Palms Beach Resort & Spa (Havelock) is currently under renovation. We are looking to add 300 more rooms here before we explore other destinations. As we look to expand, we’re confident that Simplotel’s innovative OTA-like technology will continue to drive our growth and enhance the online guest experience. The exceptional customer service from the Simplotel team has been a cornerstone of this success. We look forward to seeing our partnership thrive and grow,” concludes Jaikar.
Within a year of onboarding Simplotel, Sarovar had hit over 3x growth in revenue from direct bookings. In another year, this growth doubled to 6x since it went live with Simplotel. “We were able to use Simplotel’s technology to begin promotions and campaigns that gave us a major boost”, says Khan. The average monthly organic traffic also nearly doubled for The Louvre Hotels-backed hospitality chain. However, this was only possible as Sarovar had managed to put their vision into action and achieve the almost impossible in such a short span of time.
On personal learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic, both Khan and Dutta agree that they have learned to live life more passionately and prioritize family. On the professional front, they have learned to think out of the box to jumpstart Sarovar’s operations and forge deeper connections with their partners.