Hospitality

Hilton plans to double its inventory in India

Hospitality major Hilton, which has around 17 hotels in the country across five of its brands, plans to double it in the next three or four years. The company is planning to open a hotel and a resort in Goa and a hotel in Ahmedabad in 2019 and has strengthened its partnership with the Bengaluru-based Embassy Group.

“When compared to other countries we are under represented in India as we have just 17 hotels in the country and there is a lot of scope to expand further. We plan to have 16 more hotels in the country in the near future. There is tremendous opportunity in different hotel segments. We have introduced five of our brands here in India and see immense potential of partnerships with different groups in the country,” said Guy Phillips, senior vice president, development, Asia and Australasia, Hilton, while announcing the expansion of their partnership with the Embassy Group.

“Indian hospitality market has a huge scope for further expansion as Hong Kong, for instance, has more hotel rooms than the hotel rooms in five Indian cities—Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad—put together,” said Navjit Ahluwalia, senior vice president and country head, Hilton India.

As part of their current expansion plan in India, Hilton signed management agreements with the Embassy Group to develop two hotels in Bengaluru. It is planning a 500-room dual-branded hotel that features a Hilton Hotels and Resorts, and a Hilton Garden Inn hotel in the same complex to be located within the Embassy TechVillage Business Park in south Bengaluru, which is around 100 acres. This is their third project in the city post the Hilton Bangalore Embassy Golf Links and the first dual-branded 620-keys twin hotels at Embassy Manyata Business Park in the IT city.

The company claims that this hospitality project will be among the largest in India, and the construction is expected to begin this year. The hotels will be operational by the end of 2021 or early 2022. As per the agreement, the dual-branded property will be developed and owned by Embassy Group and managed by Hilton.