New Delhi : WelcomHeritage, a joint venture between ITC Hotels and The Maharaja of Jodhpur, has signed five more properties in India to become a 67th strong hotel brand. Out of the five properties, signed day before Aug 27th, three are located in West Bengal (Chilapata, Garumara and Mandarmani), one in Uttar Pradesh (Varanasi) and one in Uttarakhand (Almora).

While all the three properties in West Bengal belong to a single owner, Roofers Hotels Ltd, the property in Almora belongs to Trans Himalayan Hospitality Ltd, a local hospitality company and the Varanasi hotel is owned by Jukaso Group, Delhi. As far as inventory is concerned, the five properties put together will add around 120 rooms to the total room inventory of the hotel group.

Rakesh Mathur, President, WelcomHeritage said that the three properties in West Bengal will help the Group to enhance its presence in the eastern region of the country. He added that the company is looking at more locations in the state including the Sunderbans. Talking about other properties, Mathur said, "We had plans to foray into Varanasi for a long time. Varanasi Heritage Home is a heritage haveli, which has been acquired by the Jukaso Group recently," said Mathur. He informed that the Almora property will further strengthen the Group's presence in Uttarakhand.

Maharaja Gaj Singh, Chairman, WelcomHeritage said that the aim of the Group is to create an exercise and experience in heritage. "Our endeavour is not just to promote heritage hotels, but also to promote Heritage Tourism, local art and culture and traditions of hospitality. We will soon embark on a re-branding exercise, with which all the hotels under their fold will be classified in different categories depending on their heritage value, location, etc."