India Tourism Development Corporation
(ITDC) was established in 1966 as an autonomous public Sector corporation
primarily for development of necessary infrastructural facilities for promotion
of tourism in India and to bring India on international tourism map. Today,
ITDC provides a complete range of tourism related services including accommodation,
catering, transport, publicity and consultancy for setting up and managing
hotels. This apart, it also manages 29 duty-free shops at 6 major international
airports in the country and a tax free shop in Delhi. It also has an in-house
travel agency, viz., Ashok Travel & Tours. ITDC runs a chain of star
hotels christened Ashok Group of Hotels. It manages 34 hotels in 27 major
cities, spread all over the country having aggregate room capacity of about
4,000 rooms. It has 8 hotels in Delhi and one each at other cities mainly
metropolis/commercial centres and places of tourist interest. Its range
of hotels have been classified into three broad categories, viz., Elite,
Classic and comfort to cater to the needs of different categories of clients.
It offers accommodation ranging from luxury suites to modestly furnished
rooms, from beach resorts to a moderately priced forest lodge. Of the 34
hotels managed by ITDC 26 hotels are owned by it, 6 hotels are owned by
its subsidiaries and 2 are managed properties. ITDC also runs 125 restaurants
serving far Eastern, continental and Mughlai cuisine besides numerous regional
Indian delicacies.
The transport outfit of ITDC namely
Ashok Travel & Tours has 11 units with a fleet of coaches, tourist
cars and air-conditioned limousines which can be hired by individuals or
for group sight seeing, conferences and conventions. A number of conducted
tours to places of tourist interest are being organised by ITDC through
this division. ITDC also organised light and sound shows at three different
locations in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Srinagar to bring alive India's cultural
heritage and to provide healthy entertainment to tourists. The consultancy
services Division of ITDC offers assistance from research and feasibility
studies to the execution of entire hotel and resort projects to areas of
hotel management, planning, administration and manpower develoment, not
only within India but also abroad.
Hotel industry in India which
had a moderate growth in the past is poised for a quantum leap. Demand
for hotel accommodation is mainly from two segments, viz., business travellers
and domestic and international tourists. There are over 50,000 hotel rooms
in India in the approved category with only 4 established five star hotel
chains operating in the country including ITDC. The economic liberalisation
has encouraged many multinational companies, NRI business houses etc. to
set up units in India and even the domestic companies are taking up major
expansions to equip themselves for increased competition. This has resulted
in a significant growth in business travel leading to a growing demand
for hotel accommodation.
Tourism Industry in India is still
in its embryonic state despite the fact that India has vast potential for
growth. Tourism, which was hitherto a neglected area has, lately attracted
the attention of Govt. of India and concerted efforts are now being made
to develop places of tourism interest to attract Indian and International
tourists. The Government's national action plan for tourism aims at increasing
the arrival of foreign tourists from the present level of 2 million per
annum to 5 million per annum by turn of the century. International media
coverage coupled with increasing awareness about travel and holidaying
in India is expected to lead to a rapid rise in international tourists.
This apart, the Govt. of India has announced a number of fiscal/financial
incentives such as tax rebate on foreign exchange earnings of hotels, exemption
from expenditure tax to hotels set up in specified areas, interest subsidy
for heritage hotels etc. which would have a favourable impact on development
of tourism industry in the years to come. Hence there is enough growth
potential for hotel and tourism industry in India.
Of the 34 hotels ITDC manages only
6 hotels are of 5 Star and above category and of them 2 are located in
Delhi and one each at Calcutta, Bangalore, Mysore and Kovalam. The remaining
28 hotels are located in various places of tourist interest. But the main
profit centre for ITDC continues to be the operation of duty free shops.
ITDC has the following subsidiary
companies also engaged in hotel industry-
-
Madhya Pradesh Ashok Hotel Corporation
Ltd.
-
Utkal Ashok Hotel Coroporation Ltd.
-
Ranchi Ashok Bihar Hotel Corporation
Ltd.
-
Assam Ashok Hotel Corporation Ltd.
-
Pondichery Ashok Hotel Corporation Ltd.
-
Dongi Polo Ashok Hotel Corporation Ltd.
Besides, ITDC is also running an Indian
restaurant in MOSCOW on a joint venture basis.
Hotel and Tourism industry in India
is poised for growth in view of the economic liberalisation and greater
emphasis now being laid on the tourism industry by Govt. of India. A number
of hotels are coming up in different parts of the country but the star
category of hotels are mainly confined to metropolis. The competition would
primarily be in major cities where customer service would hold the key
to growth. With wider geographical dispersion of its hotels at vantage
points and improved customer service, ITDC would be able to carve a niche
for itself and capture a sizeable market share. Its range of hotels can
cater to varied needs of travellers belonging to different strata of society.
ITDC has embarked upon expansion
and modernisation programmes to accommodate increasing number of tourists
and offer some of the best facilities in the country as well as reposition
itself for its share of the world market. ITDC which announced an all-time
high profits in 1995-96 has envisaged a total outlay of Rs.40 Crores in
the current financial year. The outlay which has been earmarked for its
plan programmes includes provision for renovation and modification of its
existing hotel so that these properties become not only contemporary but
also competitive.
Though it has been felt that it
was difficult to compete with the privately-owned five-star hotels which
were making continuous changes staying ahead with the times in these areas
of development, ITDC was expected to make optimum changes in these segments,
within the limits.
Reconstruction activities have already
begun at the site of the Lodhi Hotel in New Delhi. The reconstruction of
Lodhi Hotel was expected to take three or five years and the corporation
has similar plans for Ranjit Hotel and Janpath Hotel. Each property will
be taken up individually and one after another. This Rs.100 Crore hotel
will have 320 rooms with all modern amenities and the reconstruction is
being done to turn into a five-star, deluxe property. Similarly, the sixth
floor executive club with exclusive membership at the flagship Ashok Hotel
in New Delhi is now ready for opening. Construction of a hotel at Chandigarh
has also been envisaged in the plan programmes. Also on the anvil are plans
for a new wing to be added to the Ashok Kovalam Beach Resort.
Existing properties have also been
shortlisted for refurbishing and renovation, mostly located at New Delhi
and Calcutta. The Plan Programmes also includes setting up of Duty Free
shops at Sonauli at the Indo-Nepal Border and another at Wagha at the Indo-Pakistan
Border. The thrust was also to develop the infrastructural facilities.
New Delhi and Mumbai were the gateway points to India where a majority
of tourists arrived. The burden of these destinations had to be eased.
The plans were also being initiated
to upgrade existing facilities. Latest hi-tech communication facilities
would be installed and satellite communications extended in most of its
hotels. ITDC was initiating these plans with an eye on attracting business
travellers.
ITDC which owns 33 hotels surpassed
all previous records by posting highest ever profit before tax at Rs.71.65
Crores for 1995-96 or 66 percent higher than Rs.43.17 Crores recorded in
1994-95. While the net profit after tax was 68.31 percent higher than Rs.28.37
Crores achieved in the previous year. The reserves also rose to Rs.121.46
Crores as against Rs.83.16 Crores in the previous year, while the turnover
increased by 26.3 per cent to Rs.298.05 Crores. Contributing significantly
to this improved performance was the excellent results by the Ashok Group
of Hotels, India's largest accommodation chain with over 4,000 rooms at
deluxe hotels, beach resorts, palace hotels, budget hotels and forest lodges.
It registered a turnover of Rs.192.05 Crores, an increase of 32.75 percent
and a net profit of Rs.44.35 crores an increase of 92.2 percent.
The Duty Free Division notched up
an increase of 34.6 percent in its net profit from Rs.20.24 Crores to Rs.27.25
Crores in 1995-96. The direct foreign exchange of the company were up from
Rs.74.49 Crores in the preceding years to Rs.94.04 Crores in 1995-96, signifying
an increase of 27.5 percent. Due to increased profitability and self-reliance,
no budgetary support has been given also in the year 1995-96 and the major
thrust has been on product up-gradation of its properties through internal
resources. ITDC had tried last year to get an International partner by
floating global tenders in its campaign to turn the country into a tourism
hotspot. But the exercise did not materialise into any joint ventures.
Joint venture hotels in various
parts of the country are also being considered. Discussions have already
been initiated in Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Karnataka for upgrading
existing and developing new properties. A sum of Rs.70 Crores has been
earmarked for any joint venture or new property development in the next
fiscal year. Allocation for the states have also been made.
Over the years, the company has
laid considerable emphasis on human resource development. Various training
programmes have been devised for the employees to upgrade their knowledge
base and skill. This is to achieve higher productivity and establish a
work culture to achieve optimum customer satisfaction. In the last two
years, a perceptible changes has occurred in the ITDC image to providing
quality service.
During 1995-96, the Corporation
formulated an approach paper on five year plan (1997-2002) envisaging an
outlay of Rs.410 Crores. Energy conservation efforts launched resulted
an over-all saving of Rs.70 Lakhs during the same year and ITDC participated
in foreign festivals at Trinidad, Kualalumpur, Tokyo and Jakarta etc. to
promote Indian cuisine. It also joined the Green Leaf Programme launched
by PATA to promote environment and preserving ecological balance. |