ITDC registers an all-time high growth

NEW DELHI: The India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) has registered an impressive growth, recording an all-time high profit of Rs 44 crores during April-December last year.

The profit of the ITDC during the corresponding period in 2005 was Rs 15.05 crore.

"The growth in profit during 2006 was three-fold," Tourism Minister Ambika Soni said here on Friday.

The corporation had performed well even during the off-season (April-October) as compared to 2005, she added.

Soni said the main growth had come from the Ashok Hotels Division which alone made a profit of Rs 36 crore during April-December this year. There are 16 star hotels under this division.

The profit from the business of the Duty Free shops, managed by the ITDC in major airports, had also gone up by three times.

ITDC sources, however, said the hotels of the ITDC at Jammu, Jaipur and Bhubaneshwar continued to be in the red.

The ITDC has started making profit since 2004 due to improved occupancy rates under the impact of booming tourism and increase in the tariff rates of hotel rooms.