Lebua Hotels and Resorts, a luxury-hotel operator, plans to manage three new properties in India this year adding 640 rooms to the current 900-room Lebua network.
Chief Executive Officer Deepak Ohri told a newspaper that his company was negotiating with three Indian property owners to manage properties in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The deals are expected to be sealed this year, creating an additional 640 rooms for the Lebua network.
The hotel in New Delhi will be a conversion from an ancient palace, while the other two properties will be newly constructed by local investors, he said.
India is considered a market with good potential driven by strong domestic travel, particularly among high-end travellers, although overall Indian economic conditions are currently sluggish, he added.
The CEO said domestic leisure and corporate travel remained a strong market for Lebua, with positive growth.
Lebua expanded its portfolio into India with the opening of its first luxury hotel there, the 400-room Lebua New Delhi, a couple of years ago.
In January, it opened a further three properties with a total of more than 200 rooms, comprising 123 suites in the Lebua Resort; 40 luxury tents in the Lebua Lodge at Amer, near Jaipur, Rajasthan; and 39 suites at the Devi Garh by Lebua, in Udaipur, also in Rajasthan state.