Holiday Inn-owner IHG sees India as top-five market as global chains scale up

By Nathan Gomes and Praveen Paramasivam

PANAJI, Feb 27 (Reuters) - UK's InterContinental Hotels Group IHG.L expects India to become one of its top-five global markets within years, a senior executive said on Friday, as international hospitality brands accelerate expansion across the world's most populous country.

"It (India) is like a game-changer. It's an infinite market in a sense," Sudeep Jain, managing director for South West Asia at IHG, told Reuters on the sidelines of the Hospitality Overview Presentation & Exchange conference in Goa.

IHG, whose brands include Holiday Inn and Avid Hotels, currently operates around 50 hotels in India with roughly 80 in development.

The British group said in January it aimed to grow its combined open and pipeline portfolio within the country to more than 400 properties within five years. Globally, IHG operates over 6,900 hotels, with about two-thirds in the Americas.

India's hospitality sector is forecast to nearly double to $55.7 billion by 2031 from $23.5 billion in 2025, according to consultancy Mordor Intelligence, driven by population growth, rapid urbanisation and rising travel demand from both affluent and budget consumers.

IHG is not alone in its ambitions.

Hyatt Hotels H.N Chief Executive Mark Hoplamazian said the chain expects to quintuple its India footprint over five years. Hilton Worldwide HLT.N has separately announced plans to quadruple its pipeline of hotel rooms in the country.

Executives from Accor ACCP.PA and Wyndham Hotels WH.N also flagged India as a priority market at the Goa conference.

Jain ruled out an Indian stock market listing for IHG's local operations, at least in the near term, even as local subsidiaries of South Korea's LG Electronics and Hyundai Motor have recently completed Indian initial public offerings.