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Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) is in talks with other Tata Group entities, including Tata Power, to convert their guest houses to homestays under its newly created brand Ama Trails and Stays. The target is to reach 100 homestay properties.
“This is part of the strategy to find synergies and bring in collaboration within the Tata Group. We have 11 such properties at the moment; nine from Tata Coffee and two of our own. We are talking and negotiating with other group companies like Tata Power to get their guest houses. So, within the group, we can become an aggregator. Our target is to reach 100,” Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and CEO of IHCL told BusinessLine .
Ama Trails and Stays was launched earlier this year at a time when global players such as Airbnb and start-ups such as SaffronStays are already expanding their presence in the segment. But traditional hotel companies have not ventured out into this category until now.
Read more:Taj enters homestay segment with Ama Trails
IHCL did not have to invest on the brand as these properties are already part of the Tata Group. “We can add our operational expertise as well as sales & distribution and branding & marketing and we think this will help optimise the sales and profitability of the business. We’re not adding staff, we’re not adding cost. We are looking at places where we already have hotels, so we are not adding more infrastructure,”Chhatwal added.
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