The U.S. hotel group Best West International is planning to open 100 hotels in India to capitalize on the shortage in tourist and business travel accommodation in the country, according to a report by FT.com. Over the next 10 years, Best Western's licensee, Cabana Hotel Management, will invest more than $1.2 billion to develop the mid-tier four-star market. The initiative will be implemented through Signet Hotels a subsidiary of Cabana Hotel Management.

The report noted that there is a short supply of hotel rooms with a lot of foreign investors flooding into India. Market analysts feel that the approximately 110,000 rooms available in the organized hotel sector in India is only half that the market needed and negligible compared to the availability in developed countries.

David Kong, chief executive of Best Western was quoted as saying that the group already had six hotels in India but had decided to expand its offering in a bid to target not only travellers within the subcontinent but also the rising number of Indians travelling abroad for business and holidays.

This initiative by the group follows the plans by French hotel group Accorand and Dubai-based developer Emaar Properties last November to develop jointly 100 budget hotels in India. While Hyatt International Hotels is planning to open 15 deluxe hotels in the next few years, Starwood, owner of the Sheraton brand, is aiming for 50 hotels by 2010.


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