New Delhi: UK-based IHG Hotels & Resorts is accelerating its India expansion, betting on luxury brands, hotel conversions and airport-linked developments to capitalize on surging travel demand.
The company, which operates InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Six Senses, aims to build a portfolio of 400 operational and pipeline properties in the country by 2030, Sudeep Jain, managing director, South West Asia, IHG Hotels & Resorts, told Mint. IHG had 52 operating hotels in India in 2025 with another 98 in the pipeline. As of December 2025, it had 6,963 hotels globally.
IHG’s India strategy is part of the broader race among global to build a presence across every segment of India’s rapidly expanding hospitality market, said Ishaan Koul, director of Delhi-based independent hospitality company, Naaz Hotel Consultants.
Luxury push
“IHG is clearly broadening its playbook in India. For years, its growth was concentrated around Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, but over the past two years, the company has become far more active in the upper-upscale and luxury segments. We’ve seen a visible increase in InterContinental and Crowne Plaza signings, the introduction of new lifestyle and collection brands,” Koul added.
Jain said the company’s strategy is to build a healthy, sustainable and disciplined business. “What has changed (now) is that the market fundamentals have also strengthened and so have our owner relationships,” Jain said.
Economic growth, rising disposable incomes, infrastructure upgrades and a younger population travelling more frequently are supporting demand, Jain said. Strong industry performance over the past several years has also improved owner confidence, with a significant portion of recent signings coming from existing partners expanding their relationship with IHG, he said.
For much of its India growth, IHG relied on Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, which still account for about 35 operating hotels and 68 properties in the pipeline. The company is now widening its focus to higher-end segments, where it sees greater room for expansion.
“IHG is clearly broadening its playbook in India. For years, its growth was concentrated around Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, but over the past two years the company has become far more active in the upper-upscale and luxury segments. We’ve seen a visible increase in InterContinental and Crowne Plaza signings, the introduction of new lifestyle and collection brands,” Jain said.
In May, it announced a partnership with Adani Airport Holdings to develop about 1,500 hotel rooms across five properties, including a new luxury lifestyle brand Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants through a hotel in Jaipur. The remaining will be Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels linked to airport developments in Navi Mumbai, Mangaluru and Thiruvananthapuram.
“We were conscious and deliberate with our . Today we have three operating luxury and lifestyle assets in the region and 10 more in the pipeline,” he said.
IHG is expanding its newer brands such as Garner, its midscale conversion brand, which is being rolled out largely through a franchise-led model with the company signing seven of these.
“If you’ve got to grow in India, you’ve got to grow beyond metros. People are moving from unbranded to branded hotels and that preference is changing not just in metros but in smaller cities and towns as well,” he said.
Conversions let unbranded hotels join a global parent company’s ecosystem through franchising which is expected to play a bigger role in IHG’s India growth strategy going forward.
The company’s India portfolio is currently recording occupancy levels in the 70% range and remains on track for double-digit growth this year, with Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad among the strongest-performing markets. “I don’t foresee this changing in the near future,” Jain said.
According to hospitality consultancy HVS Anarock, continued to demonstrate steady growth, supported by resilient domestic demand, sustained pricing power, and the industry’s ability to absorb intermittent disruptions through the year in 2025. The sector closed the year with an occupancy level of 63-65%, up 1-2 percentage points from the previous year.