The company also introduced two new brands during the year

ITC Limited has shared its annual report, highlighting the company’s move of embracing the digital trend, including the launch of a full stack mobile application. Digital investments continue to be leveraged towards facilitating guest acquisition, enhancing guest experience, augmenting revenue generation and driving operational efficiency. During the year, the managed properties portfolio of ITC was integrated with the contemporary cloud-based central reservation and distribution system of the business.

The ITC Hotels website was also refreshed with additional functionalities to cater to segment-specific customer requirements and leverage advanced analytics to provide a single window platform for brands across ITC’s Hotels business, it said. During the year, the business also launched its full stack ITC Hotels Mobile App with cutting-edge user experience enabling swift and easy access to Room and F&B reservations, food delivery, loyalty benefits and exclusive offers.

In its annual report, the hotel chain also stated that it has 113 properties in India currently, with more than 10,700 rooms. These are segregated between four brands - ‘ITC Hotels’ in the Luxury segment, ‘Welcomhotel’ in the premium segment, ‘Fortune’ in the Mid-market to Upscale segment and ‘WelcomHeritage’ in the Leisure and Heritage segment. In the last year, nine new properties were added to the group’s portfolio, including four under the Welcomhotel brand – in Bhubaneswar, Guntur, Katra and Chail.

Meanwhile, the Fortune brand continues to maintain its position in the mid-market to upscale segment, with 39 properties and nearly 3,000 rooms. The ‘WelcomHeritage’ brand has an operational inventory of 37 hotels comprising over 900 rooms.

Over the years, ITC has expanded its footprint in the Luxury and Upper Upscale segments of the Indian hospitality industry and has created 15 properties comprising around 3,600 rooms across the country. Construction of ITC Narmada in Ahmedabad is progressing well and the hotel is expected to be commissioned shortly. ITC’s ‘asset-right’ strategy envisages a substantial part of incremental room additions, going forward, to accrue through management contracts.

Two new brands were introduced during the year – ‘Mementos’ in the luxury segment and ‘Storii’ in the premium segment. ‘Mementos by ITC hotels’ brings together a collection of unique hotels across varied destinations ranging from modern marvels, hidden retreats to historic treasures. ‘Storii by ITC Hotels’ is positioned as a collection of handpicked properties offering unique bespoke experience-led stays, in harmony with the environment and the local community. Several agreements/memoranda of understanding have already been signed under these brands and properties expected to be launched in a phased manner over the next few quarters.

In terms of sustainability, ITC Hotels and Welcomhotels have achieved 2030 Carbon emissions targets basis COP 21 Paris agreement (as per the Hotel Decarbonisation report issued by International Tourism Partnership).