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Whitbread plans to shake up India's mid-market segment with its aggressive pricing

Whitbread’s Premier Inn has sounded its intention to take on India’s mid-market hotel segment with an attractive introductory pricing of Rs2,600 + tax for its 105-room Bengaluru property launching in October this year. This is a drop of Rs500 from its ‘regular price’ of Rs3,100 + tax and will be valid till December 31 this year.

“This pricing will change the dynamics of the Whitefield market which does not have a product like ours. It is not very low and has been set taking the project cost and other factors into account,” said Jaideep Khanna, sales & marketing director, India, Premier Inn India.

With its pricing announced, Premier Inn has put itself in direct contention with Keys Hotels from Berggruen Holdings whose lowest rate at its Thiruvananthapuram and Hyderabad locations are Rs2,500 + tax and Rs3,000 + tax respectively.

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“One of our USPs is that we charge per night rather than by occupancy,” said Khanna, who expects his inaugural pricing to set the benchmark in his mid-scale segment.

However, Premier Inn is not bound by this pricing. “Pricing at other locations will be set as per the market conditions and cost factors. We may have special national pricing in the future when we have clusters,” he said.

In India, the UK-based Whitbread PLC has a JV with property developer Emaar-MGF Land.