The Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), seems to be back on track with a focused and grounded vision for the future,under the leadership of the current MD and CEO. At its second Capital Markets Day reaffirmed its plans to expand and growth steadily in the coming years. At the event, the company entered a new segment, plantation trails and stays with the launch of Ama Trails and Stays, the first branded product in the homestay market in India. It signed a management contract with Tata Coffee for nine heritage bungalows in Coorg and Chikmagalur and will add two of its own bungalows in Goa by mid next year under the AMA umbrella. Ama Homestays will commence operations with two units in Candolim, Goa.
“IHCL has launched Ama Trails and Stays in response to evolving guest needs for local, immersive and authentic experiences. We are delighted to partner with Tata Coffee for the first collection of plantation trails leveraging Tata Group synergies. With India’s rich diversity we are confident that we will be able to scale this product to the first 100 units before the end of 2020 and bring distinctive offerings for our guests across the Indian sub-continent,” added Puneet Chhatwal, MD and CEO, IHCL. The Company also shared key updates on its five year business strategy, Aspiration 2022 – on its journey to become the most iconic and profitable company.
“The management is pleased with the progress in its first year of Aspiration 2022. The reimagined brandscape with its portfolio of distinct brands allowed us to deliver a robust development pipeline. The company scaled up its inventory with the signing of 20 new hotels adding approximately 3000 rooms across key cities such as London, Dubai, Makkah, New Delhi and Kathmandu. Strong fundamentals helped us drive higher returns through focused initiatives for margin expansion and asset management. All our employees have rallied around this one unifying goal and have helped the Company stay motivated on executing the strategy,” said Chhatwal. It has spelled out its key pillars of strategy as Restructure, Reengineer and Reimagine. Restructuring: For the last nine months of the fiscal year the company sustained a positive performance quarter on quarter over the last year. It reported a 230 bps increase in EBITDA margins. The debt equity ratio has improved to 0.47. The company reimagined a multi-product, multi-segment brandscape to have a value proposition for customers at different points in their lifecycle. The new brandscape will have Taj, SeleQtions, Vivanta and Ginger. Ginger underwent a major repositioning and unveiled the brand’s new look in the lean luxe segment at Ginger Panjim, Goa. The addition to its portfolio of brands, SeleQtions will be rolled out by March end.
The company also reinforced its iconic status by retaining the landmark Taj Mahal, New Delhi; renewed a long-term agreement for the legendary, Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur; and won the bid for The Connaught in Lutyens Delhi. Commencing April 2019, it will also take over the management of the 207 key Cidade de Goa. There was further update that the company opened four hotels – Taj Aravali Resort and Spa Udaipur, Taj Theog Resort and Spa, Shimla, Vivanta Kathmandu and the rebranded Vivanta Katra. The historic Taj Commara, Chennai dating back to 1854 reopened after undergoing and extensive renovation and redesign. IHCL announced an enhancement for its award-winning loyalty programme, Taj InnerCircle with an exciting new partnership with Sixt, a global car rental company with a network of 2,200 + locations worldwide in over 105 countries.