IHG & Brigade Group to open 10 Holiday Inn Express hotels in India

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has signed a deal with South India's leading real estate developer, Brigade Group. Under the agreement, 10 Holiday Inn Express hotels are to be built in southern India, owned by Brigade Group and managed by IHG. The newly- signed hotels will add to IHG's strong pipeline of properties of the Holiday Inn brand family, which now represent 88% of IHG's growth in India.

The first two hotels under this partnership will open in Bangalore in early 2017, while the remaining eight hotels are scheduled to open within the next four to seven years. IHG and Brigade Group are currently in partnership for the Holiday Inn Tidel Park in Chennai, which is scheduled to open at Old Madras Road (OMR) in the second quarter of 2015.

Said M.R Jaishankar, Chairman & Managing Director, Brigade Enterprises Ltd., "Hospitality is an important business unit for the Brigade Group and we are working on strengthening this expertise. Partnering with IHG is ideal as the company brings with it many years of international hotel management experience with global brands like Holiday Inn. This will complement our local business knowledge and add to our success."

Douglas Martell, Vice President Operations South West Asia, IHG commented, "India's middle class is fast expanding and this is fuelling the demand for the midscale, select-service segment and thus our Holiday Inn Express brand – it is a brand that caters to the value-conscious traveller who is self-sufficient and purpose driven. We have no doubt the business model of the brand will provide The Brigade Group with good returns on investment per hotel and we are delighted to have this opportunity to extend our relationship with the Group and expand the brand's presence in India."

IHG currently has 14 hotels open in nine cities in India. Following the agreement, the group will have 57 hotels in pipeline – 50 of these being Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Express hotels.

Since its launch in 1991, Holiday Inn Express hotel has been one of the largest and fastest growing hotel brands in the world. There are 2,222 hotels open across the globe and 473 in IHG's global pipeline.