Luggage demand from Indian travellers is set to rise in the coming months with holidays and the marriage season approaching. Mumbai-based luggage and travel goods maker Princeware International Pvt Ltd has set ambitious targets for doubling its revenues from the luggage business in the next fiscal.
“Currently the luggage business contributes about Rs 50 crore to our total turnover of Rs 500 crore. We expect this share to increase to Rs 100 crore in fiscal 2014-15 as we see robust demand in the marriage season and holidays,” said Sanjeev Mehrotra, national sales manager of the company, which is engaged in plastics homeware manufacturing.
The company on Wednesday introduced the ‘Eminent’ brand of luggage in the Gujarat market at the opening of its first store in Ahmedabad.
“We plan to open four-five more stores in Gujarat. Currently we have eight stores nationally, which we plan to increase to 40 by the end of 2014-15,” he said. Gujarat contributes about 7-8 per cent to the company’s luggage business.
The total luggage market in India is estimated to be around Rs 3,800-4,000 crore, of which organised players command nearly 50 per cent or Rs 1,800 crore.
The shift of customers from local unorganised products to branded luggage has been rapid in the past five years. As the number of business travellers has increased with growth in overall business activity, more and more players are entering the branded market.