IHG eyes reaching 150 Hotels Milestone In Three Years

InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) is planning to reach 150 hotels milestone in three years. The group will launch the majority of the upcoming properties from the Holiday Inn Family.

Currently, IHG is operating 39 properties in India and has another 39 in the pipeline.

Sudeep Jain, VP (Development), InterContinental Hotel Group, said, “In India, today we have 39 operating hotels. We have another 39 hotels in the pipeline. This is a good number for us and with the signing pace, we will get to 100 soon. Our goal is to have 150 within the next two to three years. Holiday Inn family which includes Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express will be our predominant part of our strategy.”

“We are waiting for the right opportunities in the luxury segment. Today, we have four brands in luxury, InterContinental, Regent, Kimpton and Six senses. We would probably see two to three of those brands come to India. I see an opportunistic demand for the luxury segment in India; it is not classified as a very huge demand. This segment will continue to grow, but the mid-tier segment will grow faster,” he further stated.

In 2018, IHG had launched a conversion friendly brand, the ‘Voco’. It has been opened in Australia and Dubai.

Jain said, “We recently introduced the conversion friendly brand called ‘Voco’. Our research demonstrated that a lot of hotels are running without a brand and are of very good quality. There is an opportunity to provide them that service without changing a lot of guidelines. There could be a brand which is lifestyle oriented and with us, they can become much more successful. This was the reason behind bringing the Voco brand.”

“The brand was introduced 10 months back; we just opened Voco in Dubai. We opened the first one in Australia in the Gold Coast which is very successful. We are satisfied with the acceptance of the brand. We will also try and having conversations and will have a Voco in India as well,” he added.