The Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), the promoters of Taj group of hotels of Tatas, is bullish on the growth prospects in the domestic market. The company is confident that it will not only retain its 25% share in the Indian hospitality sector but also will increase it further going forward with its huge line up of 75 projects across the country, said Raymond Bickson, managing director and CEO of IHCL. The group expects that its rooms capacity will touch 20,000 in next four years as against 12,500 now, he added.
Bickson, who was in Chennai to attend the Oriental Hotels board meeting, said with our four portfolios – luxury, upper upscale, upscale and economy under the strong brands of Taj, Vivanta, Gateway and Ginger, IHCL is well positioned to take on competition not only from domestic players but as well from that of international ones. “Given our brand equity, number of new projects, huge demand and gap supply and increasing purchasing power coupled with an overall strong revival in the Indian economy, we believe that we are comfortably placed and not only retain our market share of 25% but will grow the same further as and when new projects go on stream,” he said.
Explaining in detail, Ajoy K Misra, Senior Vice President (Sales & Marketing), IHCL, said: “India needs to more than double the rooms capacity from the current level of 45,000 odd rooms over the next four to five years.”