InterContinental
Hotels Group (IHG) has signed 13 new
hotels in
India in 2012, boosting its existing pipeline in the country to 47.
These
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.
The
announcement was made as Jan Smits, Chief Executive Officer for IHG
in Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA), took part in a trade mission
to India with British Prime Minister David Cameron to boost trade
ties between the two countries.
Jan
Smits said: “India is an extremely important market for IHG – one
that we are always looking for the right opportunities to
invest in. We have our second largest pipeline in
Asia Pacific here after China. With international tourism increasing
year on year and the continued strength of domestic tourism, we see
incredible opportunities for growth. ”
Prime
Minister David Cameron 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.”
The new
hotels will create more than 2,600 local jobs in addition to the
3,400 employees already working at hotels under the IHG family of
brands and corporate offices in India. IHG currently has 13 hotels
in nine cities across including Delhi,
Bangalore and Mumbai.
IHG
has had a presence in India for nearly 50 years and is strongly
positioned to drive growth and continued investment opportunities in
India’s key business and leisure hubs.
Domestic
demand in India is driving growth in IHG’s midscale brands Holiday
Inn and Holiday Inn Express – over 850 millions
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.
Smits
said: “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”.
“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.
Around
the world, through the IHG Academy, the company works with local
education providers to help people gain real experience of working in
a hotel to improve their chances of finding jobs in the hotel sector.
This creates local economic opportunity and a talent pipeline for
hotels from the IHG family of brands.
