indiabusinessview (https://indiabusinessview.com/tag/hotel/)
If Bharti Airtel led the way with an asset-light model in the telecommunication industry, Hotel Leelaventure (Hotel Leela) is attempting to do something similar in the hospitality industry.
The 5-star hotel operator said it will sell its Kovalam property to Ravindran B Pillai, or Ravi B Pillai, who owns the Saudi Arabia-based Nasser S. Al Hajri Corporation, an industrial contractor operating in the Middle East.
Omega TC Holdings Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based company, plans to acquire a minority stake in Roots Corporation, a 100% subsidiary of Indian Hotels Company. Indian Hotels is India’s most well known hotel brand, with its flagship Taj group of hotels and also runs hotel chains under other brands –Gateway and Vivanta- to name a few. About 7 years ago, it had started a budget hotel chain under the Ginger brand, which is run by Roots Corporation.
There has been a steady improvement in tourist arrivals in recent months, minimising the sharp decline that was visible earlier. In October 2009, tourist arrivals dipped by just 0.9% to 4.48 lakh numbers. This is much better than the 4.1% decline in September and 8.6% in August. Typically, the next few months will be the peak season for foreign tourist arrivals and a good season will bring relief to the tourism and travel industry.
ITC would prefer to be known as a diversified company, with businesses ranging from hotels to biscuits to soaps in its portfolio. But its 2008-09 results show once again, how critical the cigarettes’ division is to revenues and more so for profit growth.