Hotel Bonanza

With the growth in India, the hotel business, of course, is booming as well. Sequoia has validated this opportunity with its investment in Royal Orchid Hotels, a Bangalore chain.

I am, however, also intrigued by the opportunity in smaller hotels in the non-major-metro destinations that are becoming key for business travelers because of the steel and infrastructure boom.

On my way over, I sat next to French woman. She was traveling to meet her English boyfriend in Durgapur, who is working on an infrastructure project. I asked her where she would stay. She didn’t have a good answer.

From my own knowledge of traveling through India over the years, the offerings in smaller towns are generally a lot weaker than in the metros. I see, therefore, an opportunity for a business hotel chain of, say, 15-30 rooms each, strategically placed in the towns that are beneficiaries of the steel boom, for example. There may be similar opportunities around power plants, ports, textile towns, etc.

In our relentless focus on IT, we often forget other sectors that also offer eco-systems that represent great opportunities for entrepreneurship.