NEW DELHI:The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) will be opening eight new hotels this year and is targeting a 30 per cent revenue growth over the next few years as the sentiment has turned positive for the industry, company chairman said.
Addressing the sahreholders at the AGM, chairman N Chandrasekaran said IHCL intends to significantly increase the domestic footprint this year by opening eight new hotels.
“We have drafterd a ‘3R’ (restructure, reengineer and reimagine) strategy with the objective of doubling the room keys and expanding the operating margin by 800 bps over the next five years.
“Accordinngly we will open eight new properties this year in the country,” he said, adding “we are growing at 8-10 per cent now and we plan to increase this to 30 per cent in the next few years.”
Stating that the overall business sentiment has changed for the good, he said the favourable demographics, a large and growing middle class population coupled with rising income levels and spending patterns have been triggers for growth, which remain extremely favourable to the industry as a whole and to ICHL in particular.
“Our journey of growth has already commenced, with the sharpening of the Taj, Vivanta and Ginger brands as well as launch of a new collection called ‘SeleQtions’,” he said, adding IHCL will also take initiatives to work together with other group companies.
Chandrasekaraan said the travel and tourism sector is expected to grow at 6.9 per cent per annum, on healthy growth in the aviation industry and robust government-led initiatives aimed at stimulating the sector, including promoting expansion of e-visa scheme.
Moreover, the hospitality sector has been witnessing growth in the recent years.
“As a cumulative result of all these factors, demand growth in the hotel industry has been clearly outpacing supply, leading to a surge in occupancies and average revenue per room,” he said.
After six long years, IHCL turned profitable in FY18 years with a Rs 101 crore net income on a revenue of Rs 4,165 crore. This also helped it reduce debt to around Rs 2,400 crore from a peak of Rs 5,800 crore, he added.
Source: Press Trust of India