InterContinental Hotels to open 190 hotels by 2016

"We are going to aggressively expand our presence in India. We will open 180 to 190 hotels in the country by 2016," InterContinental Hotels Group Global Sales (Leisure Sales & Services) Key Account Director Tony Chawla told PTI.

The hotels will be across all the seven segments it operates but mid-segment brands Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express will be the core segment, he added.

At present, the hospitality chain has 12 hotels in India. Explaining the reasons behind the push for expansion in the country, he said: "There is a growing demand for hotels in India." Chawla, however, did not give the investments for the expansion, saying the group operates hotels as a franchiser, manager and on an owned and leased basis.

The InterContinental Hotels Group has 3,886 hotels under franchise agreements and manages 646 hotels. The number of the company-owned hotels worldwide is just only 10. It has 666,000 guest rooms in over 4,500 hotels in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world.

Among others it operates hotel brands such as InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites.