Global hospitality giant IHG Hotels and Resorts, which owns brands such as Intercontinental Hotel and Holiday Inn, operates 39 hotels in the country, including two Intercontinental Hotels, ten Crown Plaza Hotels, 15 Holiday Inn and 13 Holiday Inn Express Hotels. It has a further 38 hotels in the pipeline. Business Today spoke to Sudeep Jain, Managing Director, South-West Asia, IHG Hotels & Resorts, about the company’s expansion plans, recent innovations and wedding campaigns. Excerpts:
Do you think the worst in terms of current developments in the hospitality industry is behind us?
I think the worst is behind us. But is it a bed of roses for the future? No. Recovery will not happen overnight; it won’t be a big curve. It will be slow, but as long as it is stable. The good thing is that you are now getting positive news every day like more vaccinations, more flights allowed to take off, no quarantine required, etc.
Also read: Restarting the hospitality industry for a post-COVID-19 world
When do you expect the hospitality industry to return to pre-pandemic levels?
I suspect it will take some time until 2023 when the fear factor has completely disappeared. What works for us is that we are predominantly a local, market-oriented company. Even before the pandemic, we mainly adjusted to local tourists.
What are IHG’s plans to expand in India? How many more hotels will we see within a year and five years from now? Which brands will we see more of?
Despite the challenges the industry is facing, we are well positioned to benefit from current market demand and are sensibly expanding our presence in the country’s most important markets with new signings and openings.
We currently have 39 hotels in India with four of our brands and we want to add 38 more hotels to our portfolio in the next 2-3 years, which means that our portfolio will grow by 100 percent.
Our current pipeline is quite robust, with 29 hotels from the Holiday Inn family of brands, as well as hotels from our luxury brand InterContinental, premium brand Crowne Plaza and our long-stay brand Staybridge Suites, which recently debuted in India. The first will open in Bangalore.
Just last month we also opened the first Six Senses Resort and Hotel. Earlier this year, we recently announced the opening of the Holiday Inn Zirakhpur Chandigarh and the Holiday Inn Goa Candolim.
In March 2021, we signed Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Jalandhar to strengthen our presence in Punjab and Holiday Inn Express Pokhra Lakeside in Nepal.
We also see the growth potential of our global brands like Regent, Kimpton and the recently launched Vignette Collection and look forward to introducing these at the right time with the right partners in the right place.
Our upscale voco brand is also an excellent fit for the Indian market and we are in talks with several partners and will bring the brand to market when the opportunity arises.
The pandemic has caused the entire hotel industry to think outside the box. What different innovations has IHG introduced?
Of course, we have also carried out the regular QR code menus in all of our F&B establishments, mobile check-in / check-out, etc. We recently launched our intuitive, cloud-based solution, IHG Concerto.
Conventional wisdom has it that we should have slowed adoption during the pandemic, but we sped it up. It enables us to bring all of our core hotel systems together and provide the right mix of technology, data, and functionality needed to improve the stay experience and help owners increase revenue and performance.
In addition, we have introduced offers such as co-working spaces for guests who are looking for a safe, yet comfortable workplace away from their usual living space. We have also introduced food delivery services and Dial-a-Chef services that are very popular with our guests.
Also read: The tourism industry is preparing for a surge in short, local trips
Can you tell us a little more about your wedding campaigns? What success do you see? Could you share some numbers?
Last year we started our wedding campaign to reflect the trend from lavish weddings to more intimate celebrations. Our teams at the hotels have tailored their venues and services to these bespoke events, with a relentless focus on health and safety.
The campaign offered special benefits such as free IHG reward points, room upgrades, coupons for couples and discounts on various services.
It received considerable traction before the second wave hit the country. As of June 2021, with the situation stabilizing, the wedding segment will again be the focus of our hotels and we are receiving numerous inquiries and bookings.
At the Crowne Plaza Greater Noida, for example, we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of wedding events, with the number almost doubling since last year.
Additionally, we’ve seen the wedding APC (average per cover) increase by more than 30 percent. We saw a change in the wedding mix, with residential weddings increasing by over 25 percent.
