InterGlobe Enterprises and French hospitality chain Accor are in talks with homegrown budget hotel brand Treebo for a master franchise partnership in a bid to rapidly scale up their presence in the growing mid-market segment in the country, multiple people familiar with the developments told ET.
"InterGlobe and Accor want to target the mid-market segment, and are aiming to get to 100 hotels in the country in the next five years," a person familiar with the matter said.
A second person added that the companies want to target budget travellers in Tier II and III markets.
InterGlobe and Accor currently run the ibis brand of hotels in India under InterGlobe Hotels, which was set up in 2004 as a 60:40 joint venture (JV) between InterGlobe Enterprises and Accor Asia Pacific. The JV announced the launch of a new property in Mumbai, the ibis Mumbai BKC last month. This was the 25th property in the country. The two companies also operate some other hotels of Accor under different brands in a few locations under a separate entity.
People involved in the process said the companies want to accelerate their expansion due to the growing size of the Indian middle class. As part of this process, InterGlobe Hotels may increase its investments in the venture.
CEO of Accor Sebastian Bazin recently told analysts that the group intends to expand fast in India.
“We have the best partner ever in India in InterGlobe and Rahul Bhatia. In the last 12 months, we have been able to crack the model. So hopefully, we're going to be much better in the next five years than we've been in the last 25 years. I really hope in five years from today, I can tell you that we can have well above a couple of hundred or 300 hotels in India because it is difficult but possible," Bazin said at the time.
InterGlobe, Accor and Treebo did not respond to requests for comment.
InterGlobe Enterprises last year sold a 2% stake in India’s largest airline IndiGo via a block deal to raise funds for scaling up its hospitality business.
In 2021, Treebo Hotels raised Rs 118 crore from a group of investors led by Accor, in a series D investment round.
The companies said at the time that the investment by Accor was part of its broader partnership with Treebo under which the latter will deploy its cloud based, comprehensive hotel management software, called ‘Hotel Superhero’, at various Accor hotels worldwide. Besides ibis, Accor has brands such as Fairmont, Novotel, Pullman and Raffles in its portfolio in India.
More chains are looking at the economy and premium economy segments to grow further.
Last year, Hilton announced the signing of a strategic licensing agreement with Olive by Embassy, the hospitality and co-living wing of the Embassy Group, to open 150 Spark by Hilton hotels across India, marking the brand’s debut in Asia Pacific. Spark by Hilton is positioned as a conversion friendly, premium economy brand.
( Originally published on Apr 07, 2025 )
"InterGlobe and Accor want to target the mid-market segment, and are aiming to get to 100 hotels in the country in the next five years," a person familiar with the matter said.
A second person added that the companies want to target budget travellers in Tier II and III markets.
InterGlobe and Accor currently run the ibis brand of hotels in India under InterGlobe Hotels, which was set up in 2004 as a 60:40 joint venture (JV) between InterGlobe Enterprises and Accor Asia Pacific. The JV announced the launch of a new property in Mumbai, the ibis Mumbai BKC last month. This was the 25th property in the country. The two companies also operate some other hotels of Accor under different brands in a few locations under a separate entity.
People involved in the process said the companies want to accelerate their expansion due to the growing size of the Indian middle class. As part of this process, InterGlobe Hotels may increase its investments in the venture.
CEO of Accor Sebastian Bazin recently told analysts that the group intends to expand fast in India.
“We have the best partner ever in India in InterGlobe and Rahul Bhatia. In the last 12 months, we have been able to crack the model. So hopefully, we're going to be much better in the next five years than we've been in the last 25 years. I really hope in five years from today, I can tell you that we can have well above a couple of hundred or 300 hotels in India because it is difficult but possible," Bazin said at the time.
InterGlobe, Accor and Treebo did not respond to requests for comment.
InterGlobe Enterprises last year sold a 2% stake in India’s largest airline IndiGo via a block deal to raise funds for scaling up its hospitality business.
In 2021, Treebo Hotels raised Rs 118 crore from a group of investors led by Accor, in a series D investment round.
The companies said at the time that the investment by Accor was part of its broader partnership with Treebo under which the latter will deploy its cloud based, comprehensive hotel management software, called ‘Hotel Superhero’, at various Accor hotels worldwide. Besides ibis, Accor has brands such as Fairmont, Novotel, Pullman and Raffles in its portfolio in India.
More chains are looking at the economy and premium economy segments to grow further.
Last year, Hilton announced the signing of a strategic licensing agreement with Olive by Embassy, the hospitality and co-living wing of the Embassy Group, to open 150 Spark by Hilton hotels across India, marking the brand’s debut in Asia Pacific. Spark by Hilton is positioned as a conversion friendly, premium economy brand.
( Originally published on Apr 07, 2025 )
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