Mumbai-based hospitality chain Suba Group of Hotels is planning to expand in the East and North East.

The company is looking to add 10-12 hotels over the next 4-5 years, taking the total number of its hotels to over 100.

The group has seen a significant expansion over the last two years.

Suba acquired hospitality chain 1589 Hotels in 2021 and signed a 15-year franchisee agreement with Choice Hotels Asia Pacific in July.

The group has 95 hotels covering 5000-plus rooms of which 15 are owned. The rest are under management contracts or with franchisees.

Mansur Mehta, managing director, Suba Group of Hotels, said the aim is to expand in the northeast where there is demand from both business and leisure travellers but not enough brands are present.

“In the next 4-5 years, we plan to have 10-12 hotels in the northeast region,” said Mehta adding that the number of extra rooms is expected to be around 500 in these properties across brands. The group has nine brands across segments in its portfolio.

Expansion opportunities in Bengal are also on the company’s radar.

With Sikkim drawing investment in the pharmaceutical sector, Siliguri could emerge as a major warehousing hub. Asansol is another area where the company expects business for the hospitality sector, Mehta said.

The group has also witnessed improvement in the operational parameters.

“We are almost meeting the pre-Covid levels in terms of occupancy. But ARR (average room rent) will take some time to recover,” Mehta said.

While some sectors have started business travel, sectors such as IT are yet to completely start business travel.

The length of stay for travellers has also increased.

The hospitality chain remains bullish on growth amid rising domestic travels both in leisure and business segments, with religious tourism picking up.

The group had ventured into Dubai in 2017-18 but had surrendered the property leases during Covid-19.

The immediate focus is to expand in India. The company will explore overseas opportunities later, Mehta said.