Bengal Hotel Boom: IHG, Samhi's Expansion Plans

Kolkata, Jun 26 (PTI) IHG Hotels and Resorts and Samhi Hotels are setting the stage for significant expansion in the hospitality sector, highlighting the immense potential of the market, particularly with the opening of the Rs 40 crore second Holiday Inn Express in Kolkata.

This 113-key hotel owned by Samhi Hotels and managed by IHG Hotels, marks the 18th Holiday Inn Express in the country.


Samhi Hotels owns 12 of the total 18 Holiday Inn Express properties across the country, underscoring their strong commitment to the brand.


"In China, we have over 300 hotels. India, as the world's third-largest domestic travel market, has the potential for many more. We believe Kolkata alone could accommodate up to 20 Holiday Inn Express locations, including in suburban areas, due to existing opportunities for this and other IHG brands," said Sudeep Jain, Managing Director, South Asia for IHG Hotels and Resorts.

IHG, as a global hotel operator, is "hungry to manage properties" and committed to delivering returns for their capital partners," he said.

IHG currently has 52 operational hotels across six brands in India, including Six Senses, InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, and Holiday Inn Express.

Jain said that the chain was keen to get management contracts for smaller cities in Bengal like Siliguri, Durgapur, Santiniketan, Digha and Darjeeling.

Ashish Jakhanwala, CMD of Samhi Hotels, expressed confidence that this Kolkata hotel is "the first of the many" projects they intend to undertake in the region.

"This investment reflects how institutional investors are increasingly excited about capital deployment in this part of the country. We are in discussions with some of the properties in the city for acquisition," he said.

However, both officials did not have a timeline to meet the expansion objectives in the state.

Samhi currently operates 32 hotels, and Jakhanwala views the new Kolkata property as significant due to the market's "pretty stable performance" historically.

"An additional 84 hotels across the country are currently under different stages of construction, indicating a planned 2.5-fold growth even without signing new deals," Jain said.

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) expects India's hotel industry to see revenue per available room (RevPAR) levelling off in FY26, after showing robust growth in FY25, but amid this IHG Hotels has seen record signing of a number of hotel management.

"We have already surpassed the signing of new deals of 2024 in the first half of 2025. In 2024, the total number of deals signed was for 18 hotels," Jain said.


The officials said the government's support for easy and fast-track approvals will help greater investment in the sector and employment.