Choice Hospitality India eyeing over 30 properties by 2015

Choice Hospitality India, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Choice Hotels International with over 6,000 hotels across the globe, is planning to have over 30 properties across the country by 2015, a senior company executive has said.

"We plan to focus on development of resources to grow our presence in India. Last year we expanded our presence by opening five properties and additionally signed another three hotels. We are planning to add another three properties this year," Choice Hotels India Chief Executive Officer Vilas Pawar told PTI here.

The hospitality company currently has 24 properties and around 2,100 rooms in over 20 destinations, and 14 properties are under different stages of development.

Pawar further said the company is aiming for 32 properties with about 3,200 rooms in India, mainly in tier II, III and IV cities.

"India is an extremely important key market for us and we are looking for tier II to IV cities for our growth. We are looking forward to the great development potential that these holds for our brands," Pawar added.

The brands of Choice Hospitality India, established in 1987, are Quality, Comfort, Sleep Inn, Clarion and Cambria Suites falling under mid-market segment.

Choice Hospitality India, whose room tariffs are about Rs 3,400-3,500 per night enjoyed an average 78 per cent occupancy rate in 2013, and expects a similar trend this year.

The company caters to 70 per cent business travellers and 30 per cent leisure travellers.

Talking about the slump in the industry, Pawar said, due to economic, political and global situation the hospitality industry went through a rough patch in 2013, and the scenario will continue this year as well.

"However, there are indications of improvement and we expect the industry to a turnaround by end of next year," he added.