IHG is well positioned in India and would like to bring more brands: Kenneth Macpherson, CEO, EMAA, IHG Hotels & Resorts

The recovery of the Indian market has been good and is consistent with what is being heard about the Indian economy, and growth and outlook for India, said Kenneth Macpherson, CEO for Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa at IHG Hotels & Resorts.

"The available hotel supply versus the growth of the economy and spends in the domestic market. That is actually very healthy at the moment. The awareness of our Holiday Inn brand in the Indian market is very high. There is an opportunity to grow our luxury portfolio here. We are well positioned and want to bring more brands in,” he added.

IHG Hotels & Resorts operates hotels under brands such as Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn Express, Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, and InterContinental Hotels & Resorts.

Currently, IHG has 45 hotels in South-West Asia across five core brands, out of which 41 hotels are in India. In the next the two to three years, the chain plans to add another 52 hotels in South-West Asia, out of which 42 hotels will be added to the portfolio in India. Last year, IHG signed new hotels in markets such as Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Haryana including the Holiday Inn Express Dahej Bharuch Road, Holiday Inn Gurgaon NH 8, and the the Crowne Plaza Resort in Pushkar.

The chain recently debuted its global voco brand with signings for Jim Corbett and Gurugram. Both hotels are expected to open in 2024. IHG opened the Six Senses Fort Barwara in Rajasthan in 2021. It also converted a wellness retreat into Six Senses Vana and added second a Six Senses brand to its portfolio last month.

Macpherson said as countries took away the restrictions, it was pretty much the same pattern everywhere of revenue and travel returning. “The general trend is the return of travel and it has been excellent for the hotels business. As we got through the third wave in India, we saw the increases in rates and the return of revenue. No restrictions mean positive developments for us and our asset owners. We have seen a very strong demand growth in India and there is currently quite constrained supply so that’s actually positive,” he added.

Outbound Indian travel is also an attractive and growing segment for the chain, Macpherson said.

“Many countries in South East Asia looked at Indian outbound travellers when Chinese travellers didn’t come. I certainly see that as a valuable important driver into our hotels in many destinations,” he added.

He said with China moving away from the zero Covid strategy, the expectation is that the domestic Chinese market will recover very quickly.

“We know the value of Chinese outbound travel. The question will be about airlifting of curbs and currently the number of international flights is far lower than it was in 2019. The limiter will be the pace at which China and other countries agree to put flights back in. We need to be optimistic about the value of that travel coming back into the world. But I think it will take time for those agreements to be made,” he added.