Dominics dominate Kerala

By N Gunalan | Aug 11, 2009

Home-grown Casino Group of Hotels (cgh) bets on bigger things

Getting the six Dominic brothers together for a photograph seemed impossible. Yet
when it comes to running the family business, the brothers are inseparable.

It started in 1957 when they built their first hotel – Casino Hotel, which incidentally did
not have any casino.

“Tourists were unheard of in Kerala then. We built it on Willingdon Island harbour

mainly to attract seamen,” says George Dominic, the eldest and the executive director
of the group.
The Group’s big break came in the 1980s when the Indian prime minister suggested
that the Bangaram Island of Lakshadweep be opened up to tourism. Proposals were
called for and amid grandiose plans put forth by other hoteliers, the Dominics’
minimalist proposal won the bid.

They would not build anything new but work with the thatched huts that were already
there. It was made to look like a fishing village using local materials.

“Nature was the architect,” said Dominic.

“Luxury was not the built-space but nature. When we opened a fishing village hotel in
1987, it was perhaps the most expensive at that time in India at US$150 per night. It
was so exclusive only 30 couples could stay there.

“It became an instant success and that gave us the confidence that this was the right
formula – to be in the market, you have to be different,” said Dominic.

“We built hotels which were thematic and blending with the environment. Spice Village
was themed on a tribal village with opportunities to see every kind of spice,” he said.

Next the Casino boys moved into the backwaters. They were pioneers of sorts – when
they moved there in the 1990s, there weren’t any hotels there.
Many Keralites, with family members moving on to the Middle East to seek fortunes,
were tearing down their ancestral homes or tharavads.

Coconut Lagoon resembles the painstakingly restored tile-and-timber traditional

mansions that exude the charm of Kerala.

“This changed the face of Kerala tourism and set a new trend of architecture and
became our most successful hotel.

“Everyone who came after that started copying us.”

The success of Coconut Lagoon made the Dominics more confident of building
resorts

Marari Beach in Alleppey was fashioned on a fishing village theme. It was a

breakthrough in a sense that all resorts at that time were in Kovalam and this was the
first outside it.

Next came Brunton Boatyard in Fort Cochin, which exudes the charm of an old
Portugese settlement – or what Dominic prefers to refer to as a “Raffles” of Cochin.

Approaching their half-century mark with nine properties under their belt, the Casino
Group of Hotels has repositioned itself as cgh earth.

As with a more corporate branding, going public isn’t far away.

In fact, Dominic said they intend to expand their state boundaries into adjoining
Karnataka and India’s north-east – their target: to have 30 properties by 2008.

“We’re going public then and want to have a larger presence before doing it,” said
Dominic.

“The first step is to go to the remote locations like Nagaland and Arunachal.”

Yet the group, which has built its brand and reputation on environmentally-sensitive
practices, says they want to keep it that way.

“We want to retain the core values of our group – the hotel has to be local in content. If
we build a hotel in China, we’ll use Chinese materials and incorporate Chinese
architecture,” he said.

“We want to benefit the local community and adopt environmentally-sensitive

practices.
“We want to provide our customers with the most engaging experiences,” he said.

Engaging experiences? “Yes we’ve appointed a director whose job is to create

engaging experiences. Every week he has a think-tank session to see what new
experiences he can provide that breaks conventions.”

That means that, for instance, a waiter might just pull up a chair and join the guest for
coffee; or taking the guests to the backhouse of a hotel to see how they get rid of
garbage; or taking them to visit families around the village.

“The experience they get out of us is not available anywhere outside,” he said.

The cgh formula has so far worked in Kerala where they are ahead of the Oberoi and
Taj chains.

“They came after we came and they have had no impact on us. We’re able to
command the highest room rates despite all these,” he said.

“What they invest in is creating luxury in built spaces whereas we provide intangible
luxury in the experiences.

“We’re clear in our clientele and rates. We don’t take charters and groups. We’re
looking at AITs – Alert Independent Travellers,” said Dominic.

AITs, according to him, are more educated, would have studied the destination well
before making the choice and won’t leave it to an agent to do that for them.

The result – an admirable 40-45 percent repeat clientele.

“Guests want to be in a real environment, not a synthetic one. My dream hotel is one
without walls and blending with the local village and where the local tailor and tea
shop are part of the complex.

“Hotels where guests isolate themselves from the surroundings in the fortress like
walls of the property will become outmoded,” he said.

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