ITC aims to open one property a month to tap unprecedented demand in hotels

ITC aims to open one property monthly as it bets big on its hotel business to tap unprecedented demand in the industry. "The hotel business performance, as you have seen in the recent past across the industry, has been very good. In fact, we have never seen this kind of performance for a long time," Sanjiv Puri, Chairman and Managing Director of ITC, told CNBC-TV18.

Remarks from the top helm of the cigarette-to-hotel conglomerate come weeks after management said plans to demerge its hotel unit were on the cards.

The hotels business will be demerged whenever there is further material development, Puri said on Monday.

The company's performance in the April-June period was aided by a combination of factors, such as a revival in business travel, leisure weddings, and pent-up demand. However, Puri said that international travel was still muted and not at pre-pandemic levels.

International travel appears to be improving now, according to ITC. "Since the pandemic, we have opened 14 properties. Three were our own, which we had started constructing some time back, and 11 managed properties," said Puri, revealing the goal of setting up one property a month in its hotel business.

"We are getting good interest among owners of assets in India, and also there is interest beyond the Indian borders, which we are starting to explore. Really, the target is to do one a month, so we are quite buoyant," he asserted.

Besides, ITC is also trying to develop new revenue streams, Puri said. "During the pandemic, this fine dining at home was a lever that opened up, and we are continuing to build on that. The other trend we picked up is that sleep is becoming very important, and we have a lot of expertise on sleep. Ultimately our hotel is to provide good sleep. We have a sleep lab also at the ITC Life Sciences and Technology Center," he added. 

ITC is looking to explore options beyond India in its hotel business.

Speaking on the overall economy, the ITC Chairman said there is a robust recovery in demand in the country, reflected in strong growth across business segments. He, however, said inflation is a bit of a concern.

ITC shares are among the top performers in the blue-chip space. The stock has rewarded investors with a return of 7.3 percent in the past month, a period in which the Nifty50 has risen less than two percent.