Date:09/03/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/03/09/stories/2005030901890200.htm

Back IHCL to add 10 indiOne hotels over next 10 months

Our Bureau

Mr Raymond Bickson, Managing Director, The Indian Hotels Company Ltd, with Ms Sheila Nair, Chief Operating Officer, Roots Corporation Ltd, at a press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday. - Paul Noronha

Mumbai , March 8

FOLLOWING the successful launch of its indiOne brand hotel in Bangalore, the Indian Hotels Company, which owns the Taj group of hotels, proposes to set up 10 more such properties over the next 10 months.

These hotels would have a capacity of 100 rooms and will be set up at a cost of Rs 10 crore each. The new locations will be Haridwar, Panjim, Bhubaneswar, Jamshedpur, Mysore, Nashik, Varanasi, Durgapur, Thiruvananthapuram and Pune.

According to the company, the first indiOne project at Bangalore was received well and had achieved an average occupancy of over 85 per cent since its launch in June 2004.

The group is looking at giving the brand a national footprint in the next few years, with 60-70 hotels planned in the next two-three years.

All the 10 projects would be financed through the group's internal resources, said Ms Sheila Nair, Chief Operating Officer, Roots Corporation Ltd (RCL), a wholly owned subsidiary of IHCL that which operates the indiOne brand.

The company may enter the market to raise funds in the next one to one-and-half years, she added.

The tariff at the hotel was Rs 900 for a single room and Rs 950 for a double room.

However, customers making online reservations get a discount of Rs 50 on the rack rate, she said.

Average occupancy in the IHCL group hotels is currently at 80 per cent. According to Mr Raymond N. Bickson, Managing Director, IHCL, the last quarter is traditionally the strongest for the industry and occupancies were in line with expectations.

The group was keen to expand inorganically by entering into management contracts.

It was also looking to make an entry into China, either in Shanghai or Beijing, he said.

According to Mr Ajoy K. Misra, Senior Vice-President, Sales & Marketing, spas had been identified as an important segment and the group would extend its Jeeva brand at a number of its properties. The spas market was estimated as a $40 billion opportunity globally, he said.