Cygnett Hotels & Resorts to add 16 hotels in India by 2018-end

Hospitality firm Cygnett Hotels and Resorts is planning to add 16 hotels across India by the end of 2018 as part of its expansion plans in the country.
The Gurgaon-based company expects to add around 1,040 rooms with the new upcoming properties to take its total to 1,540 rooms. It has seven operational hotels in India and one in Nepal.
"We plan to add 16 hotels across the country by the end of the next year under our various brands ranging from upscale to economy," Cygnett Hotels and Resorts MD and Founder Sarbendra Sarkar told PTI.
These new hotels will be in cities such as Ahmedabad, Puri, Mussoorie, Katra, Gangtok, Nawanshahr and Mysuru, among others.

"The hotels will be under all our brands, but a majority of them will be under Cygnett Park and Cygnett Inn brands. We are focusing on state capitals, tier I and tier II cities for future growth," Sarkar said.
Most of the new hotels will be under management contract as the company follows asset-light model, he added.

Going forward, the company also plans to take hotels on lease and manage them.
It is looking to raise funds through the private equity route to execute the strategy.
"We are planning to raise around USD 10 million (around Rs 65 crore) from private equity funds as we are looking to take hotels on lease and operate them, going forward," Sarkar said.

The company is also looking at Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Vietnam for overseas growth.
Cygnett Hotels and Resorts started its operations in India in 2014 and has hotels under its brands such as Cygnett Plaza, Cygnett Park, Cygnett Inn and Cygnett Lite, among others.