ITC plans 26 new Fortune hotels by 2011

Fortune Hotels Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of multi-business conglomerate ITC Ltd, is planning to launch 26 hotels in India by mid-2011. Currently, it has 29 hotels with a room inventory of 2,400.

The chain had earlier said it would take the total count to 100 hotels with an inventory of 8,000 rooms by 2012. This means it will add 45 properties under management contracts in just one year from 2011.

Pawan Verma, senior executive vice president at ITC’s Hotels Division, said, “The industry has bright prospects though it has faced minor hiccups. But there is a huge opportunity waiting to be tapped by means of adding new properties in the mid-segment.”

The hospitality biggie will open five hotels in Mussorie, Gandhinagar, Goa, Jaipur and Bangalore by the end of this fiscal. It will also open its second property in Hyderabad and a third in Mumbai.

Expanding its footprint down south, the company will launch 4-5 hotels in addition to the 14 properties it already has in the region, Verma said after launching the company’s 29th property in Bangalore.

ITC has entered into a management contract with the JP Group for its Bangalore property. It is also in talks with the group to operate and manage its proposed luxury hotel in Mysore. Suresh Kumar, president, Fortune Park Hotels, said, “There had been a setback due to recession. But this is the right time to scale up.”