AccorHotels and InterGlobe Hotels will add seven more hotels under their joint venture in India to take the total number of hotels to 20 by 2018, top officials of the two companies said.
The two companies on Wednesday announced opening of an ibis hotel in Hyderabad, their 13th property in the country under the ibis brand.
J.B. Singh, President and CEO, InterGlobe Hotels, told reporters here that they have committed Rs 2,200 crore for the 20 properties. Out of this, they have already invested Rs 1,300 crore.
He said the number would continue to grow as there were huge opportunities in the mid-market space, which they were addressing.
Singh said they were exploring opportunities for four more hotels and expect to take the total number of hotels to 40 in a few years.
The opening of ibis Hyderabad in Hitec City, the information technology hub, marks the beginning of the in-demand economy brand in the city.
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With 178 well-appointed rooms, it offers travellers a unique blend of modernity, comfort, affordability and availability, said Singh.
Ibis Hyderabad is the 13th hotel under the joint venture of AccorHotels and InterGlobe formed in 2004. InterGlobe has 60 per cent stake in the JV while AccorHotels holds 40 per cent. Singh termed this as a unique partnership between international hotel operator and an Indian player.
He said they will be opening three-to-four hotels in the next two-to-three months. These include properties in Coimbatore, Cochin and Goa. The other hotels will be coming up in Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata and Mumbai.
The hotel coming up in Bengaluru will be under the Novotel brand while the remaining will be ibis. With the opening up of all 20 hotels, the total number of rooms will go up to 3,600.
Arif Patel, vice president, sales, marketing and distribution, India, AccorHotels , said that with the opening up of ibis Hyderabad, they had covered all key IT corridors.
Ibis has high visibility in South India. They said they would look at more opportunities for opening ibis hotels in Hyderabad.
This will be the fifth hotel for AccorHotels in Hyderabad. Patel said that with 42 hotels under nine brands in India, they were the largest among international competitors in the country as they own and operate 8,000 rooms.
"By the end of next year, we will reach 10,000 rooms with the opening up of 10 more hotels," he said.
Patel said Novotel Vijayawada will open in early 2018. It already has a Novotel in Visakhaptanam and a Novotel at Bheemli near Visakhapatnam.
In Asia Pacific, AccorHotels currently operate 750 hotels and in the next five years, they plan to open another 300 hotels. He said India will play a critical role in this growth.
--IANS
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