ITH to expand leisure segment;plans more products

New Delhi, Mar 18 (UNI) With Indian travel and tourism expected to generate about 100 billion dollars in 2008, ITC associate company International Travel House (ITH) is aggressively looking at expanding its leisure travel vertical.

''An increased thrust will be given to the leisure travel division as we expect it to drive the revenues,'' ITH Managing Director Jehangir J Ghadiali said.

The company will look at increased promotions, services, products as well as establishing more service points for the customers, he added.

ITH has opened its 41st outlet yesterday at Noida.

''We will start by offering car rental service and this will be followed by the rest of the services,'' Mr Ghadiali said, adding that over the next 18-24 months, they will be able to cross the 50-location-mark.

The company offers luxury cars for rental and has a clientele for over 300 corporates.

ITH expects to close the year with revenue of Rs 600 crore.

''Our growth has been steady and we expect to close the year at Rs 600 crore and take it to Rs 650 crore next year,'' company Chief Financial Officer Atul Kumar said.

The firm has recently won the Golden Peacock Innovative Product and Service Award for its car rental services and Corporate Governance.

The Indian travel market is expected to touch 275.5 billion dollars by 2018 at an average of 9.4 per cent per annum, according to a Tourism Satellite Accounting (TSA) research report. The tourism segment is expected to contribute 6.1 per cent to the country's national GDP by the same time.

UNI SR SG DS1200