IHG Signs Deal with SAMHI to Rebrand 14 Hotels in India

InterContinental Hotels Group has partnered with SAMHI to rebrand approximately 2,000 rooms (operating and under construction) within its India hotel portfolio, to Holiday Inn Express hotels.

The portfolio comprises 14 hotels, including 10 open hotels across key cities such as Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai. The additional four hotels are under construction.

The signing sees IHG grow its pipeline to 41 hotels, positioning IHG as one of the largest players in India’s growing midscale hotel market.

All hotels in the portfolio will be closed while they are being refurbished and upgraded with the latest design directives, to ensure the portfolio is fully representative of the Holiday Inn Express brand globally.

Ashish Jakhanwala, MD & CEO, SAMHI said, “We believe that the re-positioning and rebranding of more than 1,900 rooms to Holiday Inn Express will be the largest such exercise in India’s hospitality sector to date. This landmark collaboration will help us to further strengthen our hospitality portfolio in the country.”

The partnership has strengthened IHG’s presence across India, with the newly signed hotels located across 11 key cities, resulting in 90% of the Holiday Inn Express portfolio being concentrated in Tier 1 cities.

Sudeep Jain, Vice President, Development, South West Asia, IHG said, “This is a significant move towards establishing IHG as a leading player in the midscale hotel segment in India ... The Holiday Inn Express brand, in combination with IHG’s strong distribution systems, preferred brands, top revenue management tools, best-in-class loyalty program, and constant focus on training and empowering employees, will ensure our joint success.”

IHG currently has 30 hotels operating across four brands in India, including InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, with a further 33 in the development pipeline. The SAMHI signing with see another 14 hotels added to the development pipeline.

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