Having recently acquired The Farm at San Benito in the Philippines, CG Hospitality – the hospitality arm of Nepal-based conglomerate CG Corp Global – now wants to turn this eco-luxury medical wellness resort brand into a worldwide chain.
“With the acquisition of The Farm at San Benito, doors have opened for us to take this brand global. Earlier, this was just a stand-alone property. In fact at present there are no existing chains of wellness resorts and this is the gap we are looking to fill. The idea is to replicate the high standard of experiences of The Farm brand in different destinations and cater to the growing wellness demand,” Binod K Chaudhary, chairman of CG Corp Global, told TTG Asia.
The Nepali billionaire has plans to open four destination wellness resorts in the next three years under The Farm brand, with the first one located in the Balkans (The Farm Montenegro), followed by openings in Latin American markets such as Mexico.
CG Hospitality is also scouting for a possible location in the Himalayas, either in India or Nepal, to plant The Farm brand. “Our investment will be of at least US$ 100 million in each upcoming resort under The Farm umbrella,” shared Chaudhary.
Meanwhile, the company’s hotel investment team is also looking to acquire some 20 hotels in India that are facing financial distress, with a majority of these hotels expected to be branded as The Fern.
Chaudhary added: “We are also looking to enter new international markets like Europe. We have created a US$500 million fund for our European expansion, and have tied up with a major US-based hospitality brand for our European foray.”
As part of its diversification plans, CG Corp Global will also launch a major inbound tourism vertical in India by partnering with a Turkey-based company.
“The company we are entering into a joint venture handles big Chinese and Russian high-end tourists travelling to Turkey. The idea is to also promote India as an inbound destination among those clients,” said Chaudhary.
At present, CG Hospitality’s portfolio includes 95 hotels both owned and managed under a range of brands including Taj, Jetwing, Radisson, Alila, The Fern, Zinc Journey and Summit, in 12 countries including Nepal and Sri Lanka. The company plans to double its number of properties by 2020.
