INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS Group (IHG®), one of the world’s leading hotel companies announced the opening of the Holiday Inn Chennai OMR IT Expressway.
The 202 room hotel marks the fifth IHG Hotel in Chennai and the first Holiday Inn in the city. Strategically located in Chennai’s IT hub (also known as Old Mahabalipuram Road, OMR), and only 20 minutes from Chennai International Airport, the hotel is the ideal choice for the contemporary business traveler. With Tidel Park just 10 minutes away, and IT companies such as Cognizant Tech Solutions, HCL Technologies and Cisco Systems located in close proximity, the hotel is well placed to cater to corporate and MICE travelers as well as leisure travelers exploring Chennai. The hotel has 5,000 sq ft of flexible meeting space and a wide range of food and beverage outlets.
The company also expressed that it is on track to having 150 hotels open or in our pipeline within the next 10-15 years. This growth will largely be driven by the Holiday Inn brand family with a distinct focus on Crowne Plaza and InterContinental Hotels and Resorts in key gateway cities.
Most recently, IHG has signed three Holiday Inn Express hotels in India with existing owners. This includes the Holiday Inn Express and Suites in the Delhi & NCR area, Holiday Inn Express and Suites Gurgaon Sector 90 with Crowne PropBuild Pvt. Ltd. who currently own Crowne Plaza Rohini as well as Holiday Inn Express Kolkata Airport with DS group who currently own Crowne Plaza Jaipur Tonk Road with IHG. All the three Holiday Inn Express hotels are set to open in the next 2 to 3 years.
Sudeep Jain, Vice President, Development, South West Asia, IHG said: “We are delighted to sign three new properties that expand our Holiday Inn brand family portfolio in India. Moreover, signing these properties with existing owners is indicative of IHG’s strength in building strategic partnerships and the growing recognition of the Holiday Inn Express brand in India. All three properties will draw synergies from IHG hotels located nearby and will reinforce our position in South West Asia. While IHG already has a strong and growing presence in India, we are looking at developing our portfolio further in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan.”
Alan Watts, Chief Operating Officer, Asia Middle-East Africa, IHG added: “There are 36 hotels (6,927 rooms) in our current pipeline in India – totalling growth of more than 125% over the next three to five years. With this momentum, we continue to collaborate with existing and new strategic partners to bring the rights brands to the right locations in India.”
Watts further added, “While the Holiday brand family continues to be our growth engine in the country, we have also identified the need for more luxury and lifestyle brands in the region. There are an increasing number of both foreign and domestic travellers that are looking for extraordinary, authentic experiences while remaining true to a sense of reliability and familiarity that comes with an international hospitality company. This is why we have set out the ambition to introduce Kimpton® Hotels & Restaurants to this market over time, while we continue to bring our InterContinental Hotels and Resorts brands to more gateway cities in India.”
IHG currently operates 29 hotels across four brands in South West Asia: InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, and Holiday Inn Express, with a further 36 in the development pipeline due to open in the next three to five years*.
