InterContinental bets on Thailand and Vietnam

Currently in the Southeast Asia region are about 37 hotels owned by the InterContinental Hotels network. According to Clarence Tan, Director-General in Australia and Asian countries, over the next three years the company plans to double the number of its hotels in the region to meet the growing demand from the European travelers. Thus, the number of hotels in Vietnam should triple (from three to nine), and double in Singapore (from four to eight hotels).

According to the British consultancy agency STR Global, which headquarters is located in London, it is the first time when business and personal travel segment of the tourism industry showed growth since the 2008 recession. Average revenue per available room (RevPAR) in the Asia-Pacific region hotels grew by 9.8% last year.

So, interest of the InterContinental Hotels Group in the Southeast Asia countries is quite explainable. Mr. Tan said: "We are very cocky in South Asia countries, particularly Vietnam and Thailand". He also added that the British operator has considerably advanced in signing new contracts as owners of some local hotels are willing to sell their brands and operate under such a powerful player.

InterContinental Hotels Group appeared in 2003 after partition of Six Continents Plc and now is headquartered in Windsor (Berkshire). It manages the world's largest (by the number of rooms) hotel chain, which includes more than 4,200 hotels in more than 100 countries. In addition to the InterContinental brand the company owns such well-known brands as Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, as well as lesser-known Hotel Indigo, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. In Russia InterContinental Hotels can be found in Moscow, Samara, Chelyabinsk, and St. Petersburg. In Ukraine the first hotel of the network was opened in Kiev in 2008.