Global hotel chains set for record expansion in India
Radisson Hotel Group currently has a hotel at every four hours of driving distance in India. The global hospitality chain targets to have a property at every two hours of driving distance, a senior official said.
Radisson signed 21 new hotels in India last year, including signings for locations such as Jhansi and Sonipat. It now plans to sign about 30 hotels every year in the country for the next five years, said Elie Younes, executive vice president and global chief development officer at Radisson Hotel Group.
The next five years are likely to see a record phase of expansion by global chains, including Marriott, Hilton, IHG and Wyndham, in India. CEOs, regional heads, and industry insiders say this is the most bullish they have ever been.
“50% of our hotels today are in tier-two and three cities in India and we will continue pioneering expansion in these markets,” Younes said. “Inflation hasn’t been aggressive in India compared to the rest of the world. So, this brings more optimism to build new hotels here. In mature markets such as Germany, France and the UK, nobody is building new hotels,” he said.
Marriott will open its 150th hotel in Katra next month and hopes to get to 250 operating hotels in the next five years, totalling about 50,000 keys, said Rajeev Menon, president, Asia Pacific excluding China, at Marriott International.
It signed a new JW Marriott Resort & Spa hotel in Alibag on Wednesday besides a new deal for a Ritz Carlton in Jaipur a few weeks ago.
Shawn Hill, chief development officer for
