InterContinental Hotels Group has signed 13 new
hotels in India, boosting its existing pipeline in the country to
47.
The new hotels will create more than 2,600
new jobs for local people in addition to the 3,400 already working
at hotels from the IHG family of brands and corporate offices in
India.
The hotels - six under the Holiday Inn brand,
six under the Holiday Inn Express brand and one Crowne Plaza - will
open in key cities across India including Delhi, Mumbai,
Bangalore, Chennai and Pune.
IHG first entered India in 1962 when it opened
an InterContinental in Delhi. IHG is expanding in cities including
business and tourism destinations such as Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune
and Goa, and currently has 13 hotels in ten cities across
India including Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai.
Domestic demand in India is driving growth
in IHG’s midscale brands Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express –
over 850 million trips were taken by Indians last year. Over 85%
of the hotels the company will open in the next few years are focused on the mid market. Today, only 15% of the 125,000 hotel
rooms in India are in this segment.
“When a hotel opens it spurs infrastructure development and
creates job opportunities. We’ll hire more than 10,000 people over
the next few years,” said Jan Smits, Chief Executive Officer for
IHG in Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA). “Recruitment is one of our
biggest challenges in India. We’re bringing the experience in
international hotel management the country needs as it becomes a
prime tourist destination. But we need more local graduates with
hotel and tourism management training for the jobs we’re creating.
We’re keen to work with universities and colleges in India through
our IHG Academy programme to get that pipeline of talented people
underway.”
The company is working with local
educational institutions to deliver training in hospitality
through its IHG Academy programme. There are currently nine
Academy programmes with IHG hotels that have partnered with
schools, universities or community organisations in Delhi,
Bangalore, Mumbai, and Pune.
Prime Minister David Cameron, who was on a trade
to India, said, “The big expansion of InterContinental Hotels
Group across India showcases their ability to compete in the
global race and will help safeguard several hundred jobs in the
UK.”
InterContinental Hotels Group,
IHG,
India
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