With record signings, a widening brand portfolio and growing owner confidence, IHG is placing India at the centre of its global expansion strategy
India has moved decisively into the heart of IHG Hotels & Resorts’ global growth story. Across metropolitan business districts, emerging commercial centres, leisure destinations and luxury resort markets, the hospitality group is building an Indian portfolio designed around the changing ambitions of travellers and hotel owners.
Its plans extend far beyond adding rooms. IHG is creating a carefully layered network of globally recognised brands, each positioned for a distinct guest, location and investment opportunity.
The scale of that ambition is significant. With more than 52 operating hotels and 98 hotels in development, comprising close to 14,000 rooms, IHG plans to more than triple its estate in India over the next five years. Its stated goal is to cross 400 open and in-development hotels, transforming India into one of the most consequential markets within the company’s international system.
Supporting that expansion is a portfolio covering Luxury & Lifestyle, Premium and Essentials hospitality. Six Senses and InterContinental are strengthening IHG’s position at the higher end of the market. Crowne Plaza and voco are opening fresh possibilities across premium business and leisure destinations. Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express continue to provide scale, while Garner introduces a flexible conversion proposition for owners seeking access to an international hotel platform.
The arrival of both Kimpton and Vignette Collection in India underscores the growing sophistication of the country’s luxury hospitality landscape, as travellers increasingly seek distinctive brands, immersive experiences, and hotels with a strong sense of individuality.
Together, these developments reveal the foundations of IHG’s India strategy: brand choice, disciplined expansion, local market relevance and enduring owner partnerships.
India Moves Centre Stage
India delivered a third consecutive year of record IHG signings in 2025, reinforcing its position as a major growth engine for the company. The momentum comes amid strong domestic travel, rising demand across business and leisure segments, favourable demographics and considerable space for internationally branded accommodation across the country.
IHG’s strategy reflects the breadth of this demand. The company currently has hotels operating or signed across ten brands in India: Six Senses, InterContinental, Kimpton, Vignette Collection, Crowne Plaza, voco, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Garner and Staybridge Suites. This growing portfolio enables IHG to approach different markets with a brand suited to the destination, guest profile, and an owner’s investment objectives.
Elie Maalouf, Chief Executive Officer, IHG Hotels & Resorts, said: “India is one of IHG’s strategic markets globally and a key contributor to our long-term growth ambitions. Strong domestic demand, favourable demographics, and the depth of confidence owners express in our brands continue to support our expansion here. With a global portfolio of 21 distinct brands, IHG is strategically expanding its presence in India by introducing more choices to the market.”
He added, “The upcoming debut of Vignette Collection and Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, along with a strong response to newer brands such as Garner, highlights the relevance and flexibility of our portfolio in meeting the evolving needs of owners and guests. Backed by a robust portfolio of hotels in development, we are well-positioned to accelerate growth in India while advancing our broader ambition of building scale across key markets.”
The statement captures an important shift. India is emerging as a market where multiple IHG brands can grow simultaneously, serving travellers across different price points and journey types.
A Portfolio Designed for India’s Diversity
No single hospitality format can adequately serve a country as varied as India. IHG’s portfolio-led approach allows the company to respond to these distinctions.
Its Essentials brands provide reliable accommodation across business and leisure markets. Premium brands address demand for elevated services, meetings, social occasions, and experience-driven stays. Luxury & Lifestyle brands bring globally recognised hospitality concepts into destinations shaped by increasingly discerning travellers.
The structure also offers owners greater choice. New-build projects, conversions, resort developments, and individual luxury hotels can enter the IHG system through brands aligned with their commercial requirements and the character of their markets.
Sudeep Jain, Managing Director, South West Asia, IHG Hotels & Resorts, added: “India remains one of IHG’s most active markets, supported by an underpenetrated branded hotel landscape and strong demand across business and leisure segments. The introduction of brands such as Kimpton, Vignette Collection and the rapid growth of the InterContinental and Crowne Plaza brands strengthen our offering across the luxury and premium segments, complementing the strong performance of our Essentials portfolio, such as Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, that anchor our scale in India. With 98 hotels in development and an increasing signing momentum, we remain focused on delivering accelerating growth in the country over the next five years.”
Essentials Portfolio Strength Drives India’s Footprint
Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express remain central to IHG’s Indian presence. Together, the two brands represent more than 70 per cent of the company’s operating hotels in India and account for the majority of its development pipeline.
Their reach is supported by a steady demand across corporate travel, short leisure breaks, family holidays, weekend getaways and urban stays. Both brands carry international recognition while remaining adaptable across a wide range of Indian destinations.
Holiday Inn’s appeal across its city hotels and resorts allows it to address business travel, as well as family and leisure demand. Holiday Inn Express offers a focused and efficient hotel experience for travellers seeking uniformity, convenience and value.
The performance of Holiday Inn Express has been particularly notable. The brand ranked in first place in signings within its industry category on a year-to-date basis during the third quarter of 2025. This signals continued market appetite for branded accommodation that can deliver operational efficiency to international standards.
As India’s commercial activity spreads beyond its largest cities and domestic travel continues to grow, these brands can play an increasingly important role in IHG’s expansion.
Garner Opens a New Conversion Path
The introduction of Garner in 2025 marked a new phase in IHG’s mainstream strategy.
Garner is the company’s newest midscale conversion brand, created for hotel owners seeking a more flexible route into the IHG portfolio. Conversion brands enable suitable existing properties to join an international system while operating within a model designed for efficient operations and essential guest experiences.
Early signings demonstrate Garner’s potential across diverse Indian markets. Garner Etawah in Uttar Pradesh and Garner Kathua in Jammu & Kashmir were signed during 2025, followed by additions in Kutch and Bhiwadi.
The brand’s initial traction also signals owner confidence in conversion-led development. For IHG, that confidence will be critical as it pursues scale across a country with widely differing real estate conditions and investment profiles.
Premium Brands Gain Momentum
IHG’s expansion is equally visible within the Premium segment. Crowne Plaza continues to strengthen its Indian footprint and now represents around 25 per cent of the company’s hotels in development across the region. Its combination of accommodation, meetings infrastructure, dining and social spaces gives it relevance across corporate centres, convention markets and destinations with strong demand for events.
The opening of Crowne Plaza Lucknow in May 2025 carried particular significance. The hotel became IHG’s 50th operating property in India, marking an important milestone in the company’s growth journey.
The expansion of voco brings a different expression of premium hospitality. The brand combines the individuality of each property with the reassurance and systems of an international hotel group. Since entering India, voco has secured signings across major cities and leisure destinations, including Srinagar, Goa, Gurugram, Mumbai and Amritsar.
Its first Indian opening at Jim Corbett National Park demonstrated the brand’s ability to operate in a resort environment. The destination attracts wildlife travellers, families, small celebrations and premium leisure guests, giving voco access to several high-growth travel segments within a single market.
The geographic range of its signings suggests that voco can occupy a valuable space in IHG’s portfolio.
IHG’s ambitions within the Premium segment extend beyond its existing portfolio. The recent global launch of Noted Collection, the company’s 21st brand and a premium collection offering, reflects its continued focus on expanding brand choice for owners and travellers. As one of IHG’s priority growth markets globally, India presents significant potential for the introduction of additional brands from the company’s portfolio as guest expectations become more nuanced and demand continues to diversify.
Luxury Finds New Destinations
Luxury & Lifestyle brands form a growing proportion of IHG’s India pipeline. The expansion of InterContinental illustrates how the country’s luxury market is widening geographically. Alongside key metropolitan destinations such as Bengaluru and Hyderabad, the brand is progressing across leisure locations including Mahabalipuram, Kasauli and Kodaikanal.
These destinations represent different expressions of Indian luxury. Mahabalipuram combines heritage, coastline and proximity to Chennai. Kasauli offers a quieter Himalayan setting with access to key northern markets. Kodaikanal brings established hill-station appeal, a cooler climate, and a strong domestic leisure tradition.
InterContinental’s movement into such locations reflects rising demand for high-end resort stays among Indian travellers.
IHG has also strengthened its presence at the most exclusive end of the market through Six Senses. Six Senses Fort Barwara opened in Rajasthan in 2021, bringing the brand’s wellness-led luxury philosophy into a restored historic fort. Six Senses Vana followed in 2023, adding one of India’s best-known wellness retreats to the portfolio.
These properties connect IHG with travellers seeking immersive stays defined by wellbeing, heritage, privacy and a strong sense of place.
Looking ahead, IHG sees significant headroom to deepen its Luxury & Lifestyle presence in India. As the market continues to mature, the company will evaluate opportunities to introduce additional brands from its global portfolio, including ultra-luxury offerings such as Regent, further broadening choice for owners and meeting the evolving expectations of discerning travellers.
Vignette Collection and the Value of Individuality
The addition of the Vignette Collection is expected to expand IHG’s Luxury & Lifestyle offering further.
The collection brand is designed for distinctive hotels that want to preserve their own stories, identities and design language while gaining access to IHG’s global distribution, commercial infrastructure and loyalty ecosystem.
India presents considerable potential for this model. Heritage buildings, independent luxury resorts, design-focused hotels and culturally rooted properties often derive their appeal from their individuality. A collection brand can enable such hotels to join an international network without sacrificing the qualities that make them memorable.
Owner Confidence Drives the Pipeline
Hotels require long investment horizons. A robust development pipeline, therefore, represents more than numerical growth. It reflects the willingness of owners to commit capital, land and operating partnerships to a hotel company and its brands.
IHG’s 98 hotels in development point to sustained confidence in its Indian strategy.
That confidence is supported by the company’s portfolio of 21 global brands, its enterprise systems and IHG One Rewards, which has more than 160 million members internationally. For hotel owners, affiliation with the group offers access to global distribution, direct booking channels, revenue capabilities, operational support and an extensive loyalty audience.
Strong partnerships will remain essential as the company works towards more than 400 open and in-development hotels. India’s hospitality market is shaped by regional ownership groups, family businesses, institutional investors, and developers entering the sector for the first time. Building scale will depend on creating models that work for each. Beyond brands and systems, IHG’s growth is powered by its people. Alongside expanding its hotel footprint, the company continues to invest in building a future-ready workforce through initiatives such as IHG Academy, leadership development programmes and vocational training partnerships. As the portfolio grows, strengthening the talent pipeline and creating meaningful career opportunities across hospitality operations, commercial functions and hotel leadership will remain central to supporting sustainable growth.
The Road to 400
IHG currently operates 52 hotels across six brands in India, including Six Senses, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza, voco Hotels, Holiday Inn Resort and Holiday Inn Express. Another 98 hotels are under development and are expected to open over the next three to five years.
Globally, the company has more than 1 million rooms, and over 7000 hotels open across more than 100 countries, and a development pipeline exceeding 2,300 properties. India is poised to contribute an increasingly important share of that future growth. Disciplined signings, strategic conversions, new brand introductions and deeper partnerships with owners will shape the path ahead
IHG’s 400 hotel ambition, therefore, represents more than a development target. It signals a long-term commitment to India’s evolving hospitality landscape and confidence in the country’s ability to sustain multiple brands, travel segments and destination types.
IHG’s India story is now entering a decisive phase, one defined by scale, sharper brand segmentation and deeper owner conviction. Its expanding portfolio is being built for the many ways India travels, conducts business, celebrates, retreats and discovers luxury.
The road to 400 hotels will do more than expand IHG’s footprint. It will establish India as one of the key markets where the company’s future scale, brand diversity and hospitality ambitions are most powerfully realised.
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