Carlson Hotels opens Park Plaza in Coimbatore

Carlson, a leading global hospitality and travel company, will open its 100th 'Park Plaza' brand hotel in India by 2015, with its capacity touching almost 10,000 rooms by then, a top company official said. The company launched its 40th Park Plaza, with 107 rooms, in Coimbatore on Saturday.

"With the launch of the 40th Park Plaza, the total number of rooms have gone up to 4,027, across the country. With franchisees, another 6,000 would be added in another four years," Carlson Hotels, Asia Pacific, Executive Vice-President (South Asia) K B Kachru told PTI.

Talking about its Tamil Nadu plans, Kachru said Carlson has three hotels in the state and with another City Centre being opened in Chennai soon, the number would go up to eight in Tamil Nadu and increase by another six across India by this year-end.

The company would launch a facility in Bangalore in the middle of 2012 and also has plans to tap the potential in the temple town of Madurai and Munnar in Kerala, he said.

When asked about the estimated investment on the upcoming hotels in the country, he said negotiations are still going on with franchisees, though he added the Coimbatore project that was set up in partnership with Sabari Group involved an expenditure of Rs 8 crore.

Stating that the hospitality sector has huge potential in India, particularly in two-tier cities, Kachru said that Carlson will focus on the mid-market segment in particular.