Fortune Park to add 21 hotels in 3 years

Bangalore:With the mid-price hotel segment witnessing a growth of over 30 per cent year on year, ITC Welcom Group too is focusing in a big way on the segment through its subsidiary Fortune Park Hotels Ltd.

Fortune Park Hotels, which has 24 hotels in operation in the country, will add another 21 properties in the next three years. These properties are in various stages of construction and refurbishment.

The company opened its second hotel, Fortune Select JPCosmos, in Bangalore developed jointly with the JP Group at an investment of Rs 50 crore. While the JP Group has provided the land, building and personnel, ITC will contribute the top management personnel and run it.

Fortune Park Hotels has 45 properties and 3,647 rooms across 37 cities. The no-frills five-star segment, aimed at the business traveller, now contributes Rs 300 crore to ITC's Hotel business of Rs 1,200 crore.

This model has the advantage of being replicable in different kinds of cities, unlike the luxury hotels, which have a small market and can't be developed in smaller segments. The revenues of the segment are also growing faster than the luxury segment for ITC.

Last year, the Fortune hotel business grew 35-40 per cent. This year, ITC expects the business to grow around 60 per cent. This is much faster than the growth seen by the luxury segment. Pawan Verma, senior executive vice-president, ITC Ltd (hotels division), said, 'ITC has plans to build and own Landmark Fortune hotels in Bangalore, Kolkata and Coimbatore and subsequently in other key destinations.