Starting with four properties that are bagged from Odisha Tourism under Lease Development Agreement(LDA), the Toshali Group forays into management to hotel units. The hotel Group now plans to expand inorganically, focusing on destinations that cater to the particular segments like Buddhist circuits all the more after attaining properties in such locations.
Toshali Group won the bid for four hotels out of six which were floated by the Odisha Tourism to be managed by private operators. Government of Odisha had floated tenders for leasing out 33 hotel properties spread across the state from private hospitality investors recently.
Harihar Patra, Director marketing, Toshali Resorts International revealed, “ We won the bid in October for Odisha Tourism-owned accommodation units for management.” The hotel group will be managing hotels in Pathrajpur, Ratnagiri, Udaygiri and Lalitgiri. The Pathrajpur property will be developed as a wayside amenity with 24 rooms which is near to an excavated historic site and would address the local travelers. The Udaygiri will have around 6 rooms more rooms to be added later. For Ratnagiri and Lalitgiri properties, rooms will be finalized soon.
“Our emphasis has always been to promote the tourism of the state. Now that we have won the bid to manage 4 properties in October 2011, Toshali simultaneously enters into the management of properties too and will look at the lease/management contracts for our brand expansion. We are still discussing some issue on the brand part with the tourism department.” He said.
Apart from that, Toshali has acquired Kolkata-based travel company Pan Asia. The company with a team of 5 people, is a specialist in selling Buddhist segment to Southeast Asian countries and Sri Lanka.”Pan Asia will empower us with knowledge on capturing Buddhism Tourism opportunities and now that we have properties in critical Buddhist locations of tourism importance, this knowledge force would be utilized to promote the hotels as well as the destinations.” Patra summed.