We are definitely in the process of evaluating other interesting discussions in and around Nepal: Samir MC

Fortune Park Hotels Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of ITC Ltd, has opened its 52nd property, the first outside India in Bhaktapur Nepal, near Kathmandu. ET HospitalityWorld caught up exclusively with Samir MC, the managing director of the company on his opening and more.

“We were looking at where to go internationally and the logical approach was to take the route of entering proximal markets given that the brand would have more recognition there—so, South Asia was the natural choice. And Nepal came along as a very good option for us,” Samir MC said while announcing his company’s first international property.

Fortune Resort & Wellness Spa Bhaktapur, is a 66-room property spread across 5 acres—one side of a hill with wonderful views—in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Bhaktapur, situated around 40 minutes from Kathmandu airport, he specified, adding that the hotel also had extensive event and banqueting facilities both indoors and outdoors.

“There is always an advantage of working in your own country, which is what we've sort of built on over so many years and we have built a great platform to be able to deliver great value to owners and investors who choose to partner with us.

“As we started looking at opportunities to grow outside the country, the decision of going only into proximal markets was spurred by a very similar thought process that, it's a much easier learning curve to go into markets, which are similar to us in nature, where we have a fair amount of brand recognition and hence, we'll be able to add value fairly quickly,” he said about Fortune Hotels’ international strategy.

As comes into any new country, there were bound to be new learning opportunities in terms of the local environment, compliances and making sure one was able to get the right resources to run the hotel including bringing in resources to train colleagues at the property, he said adding that they had built this expertise while building properties in tier-3 and 4 locations in India.

“Given that we have just opened our first property in Nepal, we are very excited to be here. We want to do a great job of bringing our brand out to the world and adding value to every guest who comes and stays with us. By default, it makes natural sense for us to look at multiple opportunities to operate hotels in Nepal, because that adds to the whole offering which we can give to our guests. So, we are definitely in the process of evaluating some other interesting discussions in and around the country,” Samir MC said about future plans for Fortune in the Himalayan country.

“Last year, we opened eight properties across India—this year we aim to surpass that number and are looking at opening 10 to 12 properties over the next 12 to 15 months. In the next three to four months, we're definitely looking at adding on a few more properties, in Goa, Kevadia, Chennai and Palampur,” he added.