Holiday majors plan SE Asia buys

Leading time-share companies such as Club Mahindra Holidays, Sterling Holiday Resorts and Avalon Holidays are looking at acquisitions overseas, especially in south-east Asia.

Club Mahindra, a Mahindra & Mahindra company, is planning to raise additional capital through an initial public offering, while Sterling proposes to float foreign currency convertible bonds, which would be partly utilised for the expansion.

"Sterling is looking at acquiring resorts in south-east Asia and the Middle East by December," said Ramesh Ramachandran, vice-president, marketing, Sterling Holiday Resorts.

Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore are the largest preferred destinations of Indian tourists. About 7.5 lakh Indian tourists visited these countries in 2005 and the numbers are growing by about 25 per cent every year.

"We are number one in the country as far as time-sharing is concerned. We would like to extend the opportunity to our members to live overseas by expanding to Thailand and Malaysia," said Ramesh Ramanathan, managing director, Club Mahindra Holidays.

Club Mahindra will be listed within a year after listing of M&M's other subsidiary, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd.

The international properties after acquisition would be available to time-share and regular tourists.

Timesharing or booking of holidays for number of years is gaining popularity in the wake of the rising average room rates (ARR).

Average room rates in places such as Goa and Bangalore are rising at an annual rate of 20 per cent and 60 per cent respectively. The pre-booking of holidays through time-sharing enables a traveller to keep the ARR at a fixed level for 15-25 years.