ITC eyes Fortune in rural hotels

Cigarette-to-hotels major ITC plans to set up around 15 three-star hotels over the next three years in rural areas where it has retail hubs. To be christened Fortune Lodges, the hotels will have around 25 rooms and cater to business and leisure travellers.

The rooms will be priced between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,400, based on the location, and will provide a basic room and dining service, gym and a wi-fi connection.

The overall plan is to cater to the rural tourism market, which the company believes has huge potential. "We believe that rural India is one of the major experiences any tourist can have. There is a lot of demand in these areas and since we already have a presence in some key villages, we plan to capture the traffic here," said a senior executive of ITC-Welcomgroup Hotels.

He added that the objective was to provide safe, hygienic and comfortable accommodation to executives who travel to the hinterland for work. "With many companies heading to rural India, we believe this proposition will work," he said.

The lodges will be built on the premises of its rural retail hubs called Choupal Sagar. The hubs are typically spread over 8 acres to 10 acres and have enough land to spare for a hotel. The first Fortune Lodge will come up at a Choupal Sagar at Sehore, nearly 38 km from Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh.

At present, the company has 18 Choupal Saagar in three states -- Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. Each Choupal Saagar caters to around 200 villages. The construction of eight Choupal Saagar in these three states are in advanced stages.

Fortune Lodges will be classified under the three-star category and will cost the company Rs 2-2.5 crore each with ITC planning to invest between Rs 8 lakh and Rs 10 lakh per room.

ITC runs 75 hotels across the country under its Luxury Collection, WelcomHotels, WelcomHeritage and Fortune Hotels brands. At present, the Fortune chain has 30 hotels under the brands -- Select, Park, Inn, Resorts and Residences.