ITC is ready to explore other options with US-based hospitality major Starwood deciding to promote the Sheraton brand in India on its own.

Starwood had a 30-year old marketing contract with ITC for the Sheraton brand here, which was slated to expire in December 2005. ITC chairman Y.C. Deveshwar said the old contract had been renewed for six months.

“During this period the partners will decide on their future course of action,” Deveshwar said. Lured by the booming hospitality business in India, Starwood has decided to promote the Sheraton brand on its own or with some other company.

In other words, the US major does not want the present exclusive arrangement with ITC to continue. Asked whether ITC was also open to the idea of other partners apart from Starwood, Deveshwar said such options were always open to the company.

“We will make an announcement at the appropriate time. The discussion with Starwood is on,” he told. At present, 10 of the ITC-Welcomgroup hotels are marketed world-wide by the Sheraton Corporation.

Apart from them, the company has over 60 hotels in more than 50 destinations in India. These include super deluxe and five-star hotels, heritage palaces, havelis and resorts and full service budget hotels. ITC has launched another range of properties — Fortune Hotels — under the ITC-Welcomgroup umbrella.

Fortune is targeted at mid-level business and leisure travellers. ITC has a strong presence in smaller towns like Thiruvananthapuram, Calicut, Darjeeling and Jamshedpur.

While going solo on promoting the Sheraton brand, Starwood plans to launch its other brands like Westin in the country. To begin with, Starwood will develop three properties with the Vatika Group in Bangalore, Gurgaon and Sohna at an investment of Rs 750 crore.

Later Starwood also plans to roll out brands like W Hotel and St Regis. Most of the international hospitality chains are present in India but with local partners only. They hardly own any big properties. Global brands have lent their name to local properties, which have benefited from the foreign brand’s international marketing strength.

For instance, East India Hotels (EIH) has a tieup with Hilton, while Asian Hotels has an agreement with Hyatt. After surviving the slowdown post 9/11, the Indian hospitality industry is on a comeback trail and is attracting big global brands.

In 2005, 3.8 million tourists visited the country, registering a growth of about 13 per cent. In the first nine months of 2005-06, the hotel industry witnessed a robust growth in average room rent and occupancy rate.

During the same period, the hotel division of ITC earned a revenue of Rs 520 crore, up 31.3 per cent over the same period last year on the back of improved room realisations and occupancies across properties.

( www.telegraphindia.com)