IHG Hotels & Resorts could hire thousands to meet its India goals, says global CEO

IHG Hotels & Resorts, which operates hotels under brands such as Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and InterContinental, aims to have more than 400 operational and in-development hotels in India within five years, Elie Maalouf, the global CEO of the hospitality chain, told ET.

The expansion involves massive local hiring that would include ‘thousands’ of professionals, Maalouf said

IHG Hotels & Resorts currently has 51 operational and 80 in pipeline hotels in the country. It has operational and signed hotels across brands such as Six Senses, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Garner and Staybridge Suites within luxury, premium and midscale categories.


IHG will also debut its Vignette Collection brand in early 2026.

“The hospitality industry in India is just getting started. There is strong demand but not enough supply. You have fewer internationally branded hotels in India than you have just in Manhattan. Not even all of New York. One of the five boroughs, which is Manhattan,” said Maalouf.

“We believe we are in a very good place to take a strong share of it. We have had three record years for signings here and that gives us the confidence that our ambition can be bigger than what I thought of two years ago,” he added. The Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express brands together account for over 70% of IHG’s operating hotels in India, as well as the majority of its hotels currently in development.

“The GDP growth in India is still 6-8%. The middle class is still adding 400 million people in the next 10-15 years. Infrastructure investments continue very well. Aircraft orders are high. The network of airports being built and fast train networks…all that is conducive to more travel and more hospitality demand,” he added. Maalouf said by 2030, the chain should have well over 200 operational hotels. “The timelines in India for development can change quite a bit. But, we have been here for 50 years and we are patient. The key is having them under development and secured with strong partners. The best years are yet to come,” he said.

IHG Hotels & Resorts will release its full year 2025 results on February 17. Maalouf said through the first half of last year, the chain’s profitability exceeded expectations. “We were on track to return over $ 1 billion to shareholders in dividends and share buybacks. Our unit growth hit a three year high. Our signings were very strong,” said Maalouf. “Last year had no lack of geo-political and macro-economic surprises and let’s be prepared for 2026 to have the same. We are not even half a month into the new year, and we have already had a few. But, I think we are broadly diversified geographically, by brands and customer segments and we can get through it all and still do well,” he added.

Industry wise, it appears that things started to look up in the second half of last year, said Maalouf. “If you look at the industry data, North America was a bit slower. Europe was pretty resilient in terms of inter Europe travel as well as inbound travel from Asia. The Middle East and India fared strongly. China began to recover from two years of flat and negative revenue per available room numbers,” he added.

Currently, IHG’s largest distribution, about 60% of the portfolio, is in North America, with 40% being distributed across Europe, Asia and the rest of the world. “But, if you look at the pipeline, a third is in North America, a third in China and a third in EMEAA (Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia),” said Maalouf. “Today, India is one of our fastest growing pipelines in the world. If I look to the future, more and more of our growth is moving East. The rates of growth here are exciting,” he added. The chain globally has 21 brands and there is a lot more firepower to bring many more brands to the country, said Maalouf.

“We will bring our Hotel Indigo brand to India besides Kimpton Hotels & Resorts. The first Garner hotels will open in India in 2026. We are looking for opportunities for the Regent brand. Gradually, more brands will come to the market,” he added.

The launch of Garner in India in 2025 marked the introduction of IHG’s newest mid-scale conversion brand to the market. Signings during the year included Garner Etawah (Uttar Pradesh) and Garner Kathua (Jammu & Kashmir), with additional hotels in Garner Kutch and Garner Bhiwadi recently added to the pipeline.

The company has also recently debuted the voco brand in India, with signings across locations such as Srinagar, Goa, Gurugram, Mumbai, Amritsar besides the Jim Corbett National Park.

The chain said the InterContinental brand is expanding across locations such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mahabalipuram, Kasauli and Kodaikanal.