Indian Hotels Company signs new Vivanta in India

The Indian Hotels Company has signed a new Vivanta hotel in Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, India with Delhi-based DMG Group.

The DMG Group's existing hotel in Katra has 80 guestrooms spread over eight acres of land. The property is close to the Jammu airport, the Holy Shrine, the Trikuta Mountains, Patnitop, Nathatop, Mansar Lake, Shivkhori, Nau Devi, Baba Dhansar and Sanasar Lake. DMG Group will invest approximately Rs10 crore to convert the hotel under the Vivanta brand by early 2019. 

“We are pleased to partner with DMG Group in bringing the Vivanta brand to Katra. This announcement is aligned to our strategy of expanding our footprint and driving growth across popular pilgrimage and tourist destinations,” Suma Venkatesh, EVP of real estate and development at Indian Hotels Company, said in a statement.

The Vivanta Katra will be the third IHCL branded hotel in Jammu and Kashmir, expanding the company's presence in the state. IHCL also manages the Vivanta Dal View in Srinagar and Ginger in Katra. The new Vinanta will join IHCL's portfolio of 21 hotels operating under the brand in India. The hotel group has another 27 Gateway hotels along with 36 Taj hotels operating across the country.

The new Vivanta hotel signing follows IHCL’s plans to expand the Taj Bangalore in India. The hotel, which opened in December 2015 with 154 guestrooms, will have an additional 220 guestrooms along with other new facilities by 2022. The expansion will increase IHCL’s inventory in Bengalore, which already has eight hotels. 

The company’s first Taj in Saudi Arabia will open a year later in partnership with Umm Al Qura Development and Construction Company in the King Abdul Aziz Road project in Makkah. The 340-room hotel will be IHCL’s fourth property in the MENA, following the Taj Dubai, UAE. Another two hotels will open in Dubai in the next 12 to 16 months.