ITC Hotels to manage Fortune Select Manohar

Hyderabad-based Sri Shakti Resorts and Hotels Limited on Monday launched Fortune Select Manohar, the refurbished The Manohar, at Begumpet, which will now be managed by Fortune Park Hotels Limited belonging to ITC Hotels.

The company spent Rs 30 crore on refurbishing the hotel, said Sri Shakti chairman and managing director DV Manohar.

Speaking on the occasion, Pawan Verma, senior executive vice-president, ITC - hotels division, said the company had signed up with 52 properties in 41 cities, of which they are already managing 25. The remaining hotels will come up in two years, including one more hotel in Hyderabad which is expected to begin operations in 2009.

Verma said the hospitality industry had taken a beating this year, particularly in the last three months. The industry in the first six months grew at 15-20 per cent but later saw a muted growth due to the slowdown in the economy. “There is degrowth in the luxury segment. The hotel industry lost about 40 per cent business in one month in this segment. The occupancy rate in prime cities fell from the earlier 85-90 per cent to 20 or 25 per cent.”'

On the demand-supply scenario in the city, he said about six months ago there were 28 proposals for starting hotels in Hyderabad. “How many would see the light of the day due to the ongoing financial crisis is a big question,” he added.

Fortune Select Manohar currently has 125 rooms, a 24-hour coffee shop, a poolside garden and a pavilion offering pan-Asian cuisines. It will add a few more rooms and an Indian specialty restaurant in the second phase.

The hotel, which closed its flight catering services after the airport shifted to Shamshabad, is now focusing on corporate catering. “We have made a beginning in this niche area,” he said, adding the group turnover last year was over Rs 100 crore.