The Taj group is geared up for expansion with plans to add one property every three weeks, said Raymond N. Bickson, Managing Director of Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL).
IHCL, which operates through different brands of Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, including luxury Taj, Vivanta, Gateway, Ginger, is confident of sustaining the growth it had attained in the coming decade too.
Mr. Bickson, interacting with media persons after the launch of Vivanta by Taj-Begumpet here on Monday, said that despite the slowdown, IHCL opened one hotel every six weeks in the previous years.
About the growth prospects in the wake of global slowdown, Mr. Bickson said in the last nine years, the inventory of the country's hospitality sector had grown from 67,000 rooms to 1.30 lakh rooms with an occupancy rate of 65 per cent to 70 per cent, while China with 1.9 million rooms was adding about 6 lakh rooms. The impressive number of domestic travellers and the significant rise in international arrivals would boost the hospitality sector's growing potential.
“India as a country is pretty sold out for five days in a week,” he said.
Anil P. Goel, Executive Director-Finance, IHCL, said the international properties, including those in New York and San Francisco, were impacted by the slowdown. However, there should be improvement in the next 18 months.
