Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), the UK-based hospitality firm, has accelerated its plan to grow in India by rebranding the hotels taken over from a competitor brand.
This will see the firm expand its room count by 50% to 9,000 within a span of one year, reported Business Standard.
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Indian hospitality company with several assets, SAMHI, is teaming up with IHG to transform its 14 hotels into the Holiday Inn Express brand in November.
Earlier, these hotels were branded as Formule 1, which is a budget brand of Accor.
Last week, IHG inaugurated the first of the 14 hotels in Gurgaon, a city in the northern part of India.
IHG managing director for India, Middle East and Africa Pascal Gauvin told the publication: “It did not take us that long to sign the partnership with SAMHI. We knew this was available, our brand could be a great fit for it and SAMHI knew the brand well though this was the first time they worked with us. The brand was a perfect fit for them.
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By GlobalDataGauvin further added: “When you rebrand an existing hotel you have some challenges. The existing room and set-up need a complete makeover. But we love to do this transformation. In the case of Holiday Inn Express, we were very demanding with SAMHI to ensure that the hotel truly reflects our brand.”
The companies are working on design elements, space management and plan layout of public space to cater to guests and brand requirement.
