Sina Hospitality has launched 804 Travel, which connects sports groups with lodge lodging whereas they keep within the area to compete at native tournaments. Pictured is the lodge operator’s Fairfield Inn & Suites at 5252 Airport Square Lane in Henrico. (BizSense file)
An area lodge operator is making a play for an even bigger piece of the Richmond space’s sports tourism enterprise.
Sina Hospitality this week launched 804 Travel, which helps out-of-town youth sports groups coordinate native lodging when competing in tournaments within the area. The group works on behalf of the groups to seek out obtainable lodge rooms and negotiate decreased room charges.
Behind 804 Travel is Ravi Patel, who can be CEO of Sina, which continues to function as a separate company.
804 Travel is attempting to set itself aside from comparable competing companies with a employees that has a background in lodge operations, which Patel mentioned would make for a greater expertise for purchasers.
“We’re hotel people. We understand the urgency of travel and what you need,” he mentioned.
Ravi Patel
Patel mentioned that whereas 804 Travel would place sports vacationers at Sina properties, it could additionally funnel groups to native inns run by different operators, owing to the demand for rooms generated by the region’s rising sports tourism sector.
“It’s such a big segment of the Richmond tourism market, you have to deal with everyone. If you don’t have the rooms, it’s not fair to the teams,” Patel mentioned.
He mentioned 804 Travel could be centered on tournaments occurring within the Richmond area.
Patel mentioned that 804 Travel was already in contact with amenities within the area to assist it get in entrance of its potential buyer base of touring youth sports groups.
“We’re working with different sports venues to get our client base up,” Patel mentioned.
Patel mentioned sports tourism occasions have been a notable driver of lodge bookings at Sina properties through the years, and the development impressed the launch of 804 Travel. The company is gearing up amid latest development within the Richmond region’s sports tourism amenities, together with a field expansion project at River City Sportsplex in Chesterfield accomplished in late 2024, in addition to the opening of the 185,000-square-foot Henrico Sports & Events venue in 2023.
While 804 Travel is a separate company from Sina, 804 Travel has its workplaces at Sina’s headquarters in Henrico. 804 Travel has 5 staff, a few of whom are additionally Sina staff. 804 Travel is co-owned by Sina, however isn’t a subsidiary of the lodge operator.
The launch of 804 Travel comes as Sina continues to broaden its footprint of three dozen inns open or within the works throughout six states.
Construction is anticipated to start out this fall on a 102-room Residence Inn at 5249 Commonwealth Centre Parkway within the Brandermill space of Chesterfield. Also this fall, a 96-room SpringHill Suites near Richmond International Airport is slated to open.
Early subsequent 12 months, Sina plans to interrupt floor on a Residence Inn and a Fairfield Inn & Suites near Westchester Commons.