Ginger Hotels looks to double presence in East, Northeast India in 3-5 years

Tata Group's budget hospitality brand Ginger Hotels is looking to double its presence in East and Northeast India in the next three to five years, according to a senior company official.

Ginger Hotels, operated by Roots Corporation Ltd (RCL), a subsidiary of the Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), has 11 properties in operation with 876 rooms in the East and Northeast region and seven in the pipeline with an expected 605 rooms to be added.

The brand is seeking to tap growth witnessed in India beyond the metros to smaller cities.

"It is very interesting, we talk about how India's story is percolating into beyond the top 10 cities...I think that's really playing out in our expansion," IHCL Executive Vice President - New Business and Hotel Openings, Deepika Rao told PTI.

The seven hotels in the pipeline in Patna, Kolkata, Asansol, Paradeep, Guwahati, Jorhat and Dibrugarh, will come into play in two to three years time, said Rao, who is also the chairperson of Roots Corporation.

On the significance of the East and Northeast markets, she said, out of a total of 91 Ginger Hotels with 66 in operations for IHCL, 18 are in the East and the Northeast region, which is close to 20 per cent.

It has the potential to grow beyond that as Ginger already has a "dominant presence" in other parts of India.

"Quite easily we can double our footprint here (the East and the Northeast) in the medium term itself. 

It really has the potential to double and we are evaluating many more opportunities in this part. I'm quite sure we will be able to double this footprint in the medium term itself in the next three to five years," Rao asserted.

The East and the Northeast markets for Ginger are attracting guests across various segments ranging from corporates, small and medium enterprise business owners, leisure and family, to people from sports for various sporting events.

"All in all, it's very well represented. We do occupancies in this region, closer to 70 per cent. So, it's quite robust across multiple segments," Rao said.

In December 2018, Ginger introduced the lean luxe segment with a new brand identity seeking to address diverse customer segments and price points.

In FY24 the brand posted total revenue of Rs 486 crore, up 34 per cent from the previous fiscal.Overall, Ginger Hotels has given guidance to increase its total number of properties to 125 by 2025 from the current 91 hotels.