INDIA’S ITC CONGLOMERATE plans to expand its hotel business internationally, focusing on neighboring countries and West Asia. The company recently demerged its hotels division, ITC Hotels Ltd., which will list on bourses in the next couple of weeks.
The listing date for ITC Hotels is yet to be announced but is expected in the “next few weeks,” PTI reported, quoting ITC Chairman and Managing Director Sanjiv Puri.
The company aims to expand its portfolio from 140 to more than 200 hotels across India, PTI reported. Formerly a division of ITC, the hotel business will gain operational autonomy post-demerger. ITC shareholders will hold 60 percent of the new unit, with the parent company retaining the rest.
“So, as far as overseas is concerned, we are starting to expand,” Puri was quoted as saying in the report. “We have been India-centric, but we have started to go beyond India. We have a hotel in Colombo, one in Nepal, and another in Nepal that we have signed up for.”
“And over time, we will expand overseas, primarily focusing on proximal markets like West Asia. Eventually, we will explore opportunities beyond that as well. If specific interesting opportunities arise, we will consider those too,” Puri told PTI.
Operating under six brands—ITC Hotels, Fortune, Mementos, Storii, WelcomHeritage, and Welcomhotel—the group opened its first hotel in Sri Lanka in April last year. The overseas expansion will follow a managed and franchise model.
ITC Hotels is noted for its green credentials, with emissions across all properties below Paris 2030 agreement targets, PTI reported. Additionally, ITC operates the world’s first 12 LEED-certified net-zero carbon hotels and the first five net-zero water hotels.
U.S. President Joe Biden stayed at the ITC Maurya hotel in New Delhi during his visit for the G20 Summit in September 2023. The hotel, located in New Delhi’s Diplomatic Enclave, has previously hosted several U.S. presidents, including Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
ITC Hotels currently has 140 properties with 13,000 rooms, 45 percent owned and 55 percent operated through management contracts. The company is adopting an asset-light growth model, focusing on management agreements to expand its presence.
Meanwhile, Tata Group-owned Indian Hotels Co. aims to double its portfolio to over 700 hotels and grow revenue to $1.8 billion by March 2030 under its “Accelerate 2030” strategy.
