Spreading its footprints beyond Indian borders, hospitality chain Leela Ventures is foraying into Mauritius and Abu Dhabi, where the company is close to signing management contracts with leading hotel groups.
The Leela group, which has chalked out an overseas expansion strategy, is in the final stages of talks with a Mauritius-based luxury hotel.
The Abu Dhabi deal is expected to be closed in a fortnight. After undertaking the management, Leela would re-design the Mauritius hotel and take over its operations.
"A few other foreign hotel chains have also approached the group with management contract proposals. To start with, the group plans to sign these two overseas contracts," a source close to the development said.
When contacted, company officials said the group was in discussions with a few hotel groups abroad and nothing has been finalised.
According to industry experts, when a hotel group plans to take over management of other properties, it normally does a strict due diligence of the potential of the area, market positioning, profitability, etc. In short, the procedures are similar to that of entering the market thorough an inorganic route.
Mauritius is a favourite holiday and honeymoon destination world over. In 2005, 700,000 visitors flocked the Indian Ocean island generating around $800 million in revenues for it. From India alone, 29,755 tourists visited, a rise of 20 per cent compared with the previous year.
The hotel in Abu Dhabi is said to be a greenfield project which will take 18-24 months to complete. "Officials form Leela are in discussion to work out the terms and conditions of the contract. It is said to work on a top-down approach. In two years, the hotel is said to be up and running," said a source. The financial details of both the deals are not known.
The Leela group is also looking for opportunities for entering into management agreement with hotel properties in its key markets in Asia, Southeast Asia and China.
