India-based company Sarovar Hotels & Resorts has set a goal to have a 100-hotel portfolio by 2020, according to a report from PTI News. The hotel group, which France's Louvre Hotels Groups purchased a majority stake in last year, has a current portfolio of 75 properties.
Another 25 are under various stages of development, two of which are in Africa. Sarovar Hotels has 6,000 guestrooms in its portfolio, including three operational hotels in Africa. The 25 hotels in the development pipeline will add 2,000 guestrooms to the portfolio once these projects are complete.
New Sarovar hotels opening this year include two opening this month under the Sarovar Portico brand in Jhansi and Somnath, India, two opening under the Sarovar Portico brand in Dibrugarh and Junagadh, India in November and one opening in November under the Sarovar Premiere brand in Lusaka Zambia. Another 12 properties will open in 2019 in Africa and India under the Park Plaza, Sarovar Hometel, Hometel Suites, Sarovar Portico and Sarovar Premier chains.
The group is also eyeing opportunities to enter the Middle Eastern hotel market to further its global expansion. "After Africa, we are now looking at entering the Middle East, due to its proximity with India. However, no deal has been signed yet," said Ajay Bakaya, MD at Sarovar Hotels.
While Sarovar Hotels owns two properties, the company has mainly focused on signing management contracts. It has also planned to add more hotels in the leisure and resort hotel sector to its portfolio.
The group recently signed a hotel in Mumbai in January 2018 to expand its presence in India. Lion Pencils owns the upcoming Royal Hometel Suites property in Dahisar, Mumbai, which is also slated to open this year.
Sarovar Hotels opened the Taurus Sarovar Portico in New Delhi a month later. Taurus International Projects owns the 83-room hotel near IGI Airport. It followed the 2018-opening of Sarovar's new hotel in Raipur, Chhattisgarh in January. The 60-room Singhania Sarovar Portico, Raipur is in the center of the city near AIIMS Hospital, NIT and Science College. The property is Sarovar Hotels's first in the Chhattisgarh market.