IHG Hotels & Resorts to bring Garner brand to India soon

CHENNAI: IHG Hotels and Resorts, which operates six brands in India, is gearing up to launch a few more - Regent, Vignette, Kimpton, Garner, soon, as per Sudeep Jain, MD, South West Asia, IHG.

In India, IHG has 47 hotels and 7,719 keys, of which 456 keys are in Chennai. These include InterContinental Chennai Mahabalipuram (105 keys), Holiday Inn Chennai OMR IT Expressway (202 keys)

Holiday Inn Express Chennai OMR Thoraipakkam (149 keys).

While plans are afoot for launching the premium brands, Garner typically for the economy segment would be launched in India soon, Jain told the media here on Wednesday.

Having doubled its portfolio over ten years, growing at 200 per cent, IHG has 60 hotels in the works, including some in different stages of construction such as one at Kodaikanal. These would open in the next three to five years, he said.

Jain said predominantly IHG operated with a managed portfolio, a model largely similar to the industry. It plans to open 10 to 15 hotels this year. “We had 13 hotels in 2023, 18 in 2024 and about 20 to 25 hotels are on track this year,” he said, giving an overview about the hospitality business. It takes about three quarters to create a Holiday Inn Express.

Catering to four kinds of markets that cover cities like Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru, Jain said religious markets such as Madurai and Rameshwaram and leisure segment covering places like Kumarakom and Sankleshwar, were also IHG’s focus. South, he said, sees 25 to 30 per cent growth and is distinct from north or west India owing to its diversity offerings such as coffee estates and hills that lure travellers.

India, he said, is a priority market and next only to the US, China and Saudi Arabia. That the number of signings are on an upward trajectory is reflected by a Holiday Inn Express opening up at the Pen town in Maharashtra on Thursday.

Jain also spoke about how the ‘fat Indian wedding had gone for a diet’ during the pandemic but post-COVID-19, there was a sudden burst in travel, driving demand for hospitality businesses. Across its portfolios, IHG sees occupancy levels at 70 per cent while its RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Room) touched 8.6 per cent, last year.