In one of the larger hospitality-led airport city deals announced recently, IHG Hotels & Resorts, the company that runs Crowne Plaza, Intercontinental and other brands, said it has signed an agreement with Adani Airport Holdings to develop about 1,500 hotel rooms across five properties in India.
The agreement will bring IHG’s luxury lifestyle brand Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants to India for the first time through a Jaipur hotel. The partnership will include Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels across Navi Mumbai, Mangaluru and Thiruvananthapuram, the companies announced on Thursday.
The India launch of Kimpton signals growing confidence in lifestyle hospitality brands in the country. Globally, the brand is known for design-led boutique hotels, destination dining and experience-focused stays — segments that are finding traction among younger affluent travellers and premium domestic tourists.
“The partnership with Adani Airport Holdings reflects the scale of opportunity we continue to see in India’s hospitality sector, particularly across gateway cities and airport-led developments that are witnessing strong demand from business, leisure and transit travellers alike,” said Sudeep Jain, managing director, South West Asia, IHG Hotels & Resorts.
The portfolio will help strengthen presence across high-growth markets in the country. In March, the company signed an agreement to convert Eros Hotel in Delhi’s Nehru Place to an InterContinental hotel.
“Our vision is to create world-class destinations that seamlessly integrate travel, stay and urban experiences around India’s rapidly growing aviation ecosystem,” said Pranav Adani, director, Adani Enterprises Ltd. “The development of five hotels across key gateway destinations marks an important step in strengthening high-quality hospitality infrastructure aligned with India’s long-term travel and economic growth.”
China potential
that IHG Hotels & Resorts aimed to increase its footprint by more than 50% year-on-year over the next four years and reach 400 operational and pipeline hotels by 2030. During a visit to New Delhi earlier this year, chief executive officer Elie Maalouf said India remained significantly underpenetrated relative to its economic potential and compared the market’s long-term opportunity to China, where IHG operates more than 800 hotels.
The company has since looked to diversify beyond its dominant Holiday Inn portfolio in India by introducing newer premium, lifestyle and luxury brands while accelerating growth through asset-light management and franchise models.
The IHG-Adani deal reflects a broader shift in India’s hospitality market, where hotel companies are aligning expansion plans with large infrastructure and transit projects. Airport corridors are emerging as attractive hotel markets as airlines add capacity, passenger traffic rises and commercial activity builds up around aviation hubs.
Airport developments
Other global hotel operators have also sharpened focus on airport-led developments and mixed-use urban projects. Marriott International, Hilton and Accor have all expanded airport and transit-linked hotel portfolios across key Indian cities, targeting demand from business travellers, airline crews, conferences and short-stay transit passengers.
In Delhi’s Aerocity, signed an agreement in 2023 with IHCL’s Taj Hotels to operate a 400-room luxury hotel and convention centre project at the airport.
Hospitality consultancy HVS Anarock estimates India’s hotel market will grow to 350,000 rooms by FY30, driven by strong formalization of the sector. It said domestic travel demand remains strong, with average room rates and occupancy levels staying above pre-pandemic levels across several markets. There has been a sharp rise in hotel signings over the past two years, led by leisure destinations, religious tourism and infrastructure-led growth corridors.
For IHG, the partnership strengthens its India expansion pipeline as international hotel chains accelerate growth in both premium and mid-market segments. The company operates 52 hotels across six brands in India and has 98 hotels expected to open over the next three to five years.
Adani Airport Holdings, a private airport operator, has been expanding its airport city strategy through hospitality, retail and commercial real estate projects linked to aviation infrastructure to monetize land surrounding airports beyond core aviation operations.