InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has just announced the signing of a series of management agreements concerning the operation of new hotels in India. All hotels are due to start operating until 2013. This deal will add as much as 900 rooms to the portfolio of the internationally famous hotelier. The opening of new properties in this country is a part of the global strategy of the company concerning the operation of 10,000 rooms in India within next 3-5 years.
The new properties by IHG will be hotels in Gurgaon, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
The full names of the properties as well as the brands, under which they will operate, are already known. These are Holiday Inn Express Bengaluru Sarjapur (179 rooms, the hotel’s developer is Duet Smart Hotels India), Holiday Inn Express Gurgaon (this hotel will be golf themed and will offer 168 high quality rooms; the property’s developer is JMD Group), Holiday Inn Hyderabad Kukatpally (360 guestrooms, the hotel’s developer is Nama Hotels/Madhucon Group), and Holiday Inn Express Hyderabad Kukatpally (160 guestrooms, the hotel’s developer is Nama Hotels/Madhucon Group).
According to Jan Smits, the chief executive of IHG Asia, Middle East and Africa, India is going to be a hot destination in future. The country becomes more popular for international tourists, but that’s not the main point as the amount of domestic tourism in India rises greatly. Nowadays domestic tourists visit major Indian cities 10 times more comparing to the international visitors, so there is a strong demand for high quality reasonably priced accommodations and Holiday Inn brand fills this gap perfectly.