BHUBANESWAR: South Asia’s largest hospitality enterprise Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) will increase its portfolio of 270 hotels to 300 by 2025 with a number of home-stay facilities and managed properties, the one-of-its-kind arrangement it has already introduced in the country.
In a conversation with The New Indian Express, IHCL executive vice president (hotel openings and corporate communications) Deepika Rao Thallapalli on Sunday said a majority of the new projects are coming up in the country in the next two to three years.
“We have a portfolio of 270 hotels, of which 191 are operational and 79 are in the pipeline. Apart from metros, we have been focusing on tier II and III cities which are in dire need of hotel rooms with investments coming in from different segments,” she said.
Deepika was here on Sunday to attend the inauguration of The Crown IHCL SeleQtions hotel which has been re-branded after the company entered into a management contract with The Crown owned by leading hotelier Debasish Patnaik.
In Odisha, Deepika said, the enterprise has six hotels, of which four are operational and two are in pipeline. The first venture in Odisha was Ginger that started with 100 rooms and its better performance led to adding 60 more rooms later. It was followed by Vivanta, Bhubaneswar, Ginger at Kalinga Nagar and The Crown IHLC under the SeleQtions brand.
“We are going to open the Taj at Puri within a year. It is a 90-room property that blends contemporary panache with traditional Odisha warmth and will offer a taste of the region’s rich culture through eclectic décor, distinctive cuisine and charming hospitality. Besides, another Ginger is coming up at Paradip,” she said.
With the Ginger brand, the company also sees a lot of potential in cities like Rourkela, Jharsuguda and Angul.As a lot of manufacturing units are coming up in Odisha, which is also emerging as a sports and tourism destination, she said, the company does not hesitate to create the demand for more hotel rooms.
On its Ama Stays and Trails, the segment that deals with home-stays on managed property, Deepika said, they are looking for people, who have already built their bungalows and are staying outside. “As the owners are not able to look after the assets, we come in there to put the assets in our list so that the assets get looked after and the owners get paid additionally,” she said. For the new ventures, IHCL, the hospitality arm of Tata Group aims to invest around Rs 500 crore every year.