IHG inks pact with Sikka to open a Crowne Plaza in Noida

The new hotel is expected to open in 2018

Global Hospitality major InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has inked a management agreement with real estate developer Sikka to open a 150-room hotel under the company's Crowne Plaza brand in Noida.

"InterContinental Hotels Group has signed a management agreement with New Delhi real estate developer Sikka to develop Crowne Plaza Taj Expressway Noida," IHG said in a statement.

The newly-signed hotel will add to the IHG's pipeline of Crowne Plaza properties in the country. The new hotel, expected to open in 2018, will be the second IHG hotel in the city, it added.

Commenting on the development, IHG India, Middle East and Africa Chief Operating Officer Pascal Gauvin said: "India is a key market for us. It holds our third largest development pipeline globally, behind the US and China; and over the next three to five years we will grow by nearly 300 percent there."

The new Crowne Plaza Taj Expressway Noida marks IHG's expansion in a city it has just entered and the company looks forward to working with Sikka to growing it's presence in Noida, he added.

The hotel will be a part of a mixed-use development which also comprises corporate offices and retail spaces.

"Hospitality is an important business vertical of Sikka and we are working on strengthening this expertise. IHG is an ideal partner for us as the company brings with it many years of international hotel management experience with leading global brands such as Crowne Plaza," Sikka Managing Director Gurneet Singh Sikka said.

IHG currently has 19 hotels in India across brands such as InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express.