Wyndham Hotel Group announced Wednesday a major development deal in India while the executive team was traveling there to source more deals. It has signed a non-exclusive arrangement with Indian real estate investor Unique Mercantile India Private Ltd. to launch the Howard Johnson brand with 3,000 rooms across 35 new properties by 2017.
This agreement also includes the development of a new 120-room Ramada resort in Udaipur. The hotel’s first 72 rooms are due to open in April 2012 with 48 additional rooms completed by December 2014.
These properties will add to Wyndham Hotel Group’s 14 hotels already in operation and the 15 properties that are currently under development in the country, and follows the recent opening of the 154-room Wyndham Grand Agra owned by Shekhar Resorts Ltd. The deal furthers Wyndham’s Asia Pacific portfolio to 466 hotels and 65,453 rooms.
“This is a special partnership that marks a new chapter in Unique Group’s overall strategy of creating a Pan-India presence whilst developing a unique space in the region over the next few years,” said Rajkumar Rai, chairman and managing director at Unique Mercantile India Private Ltd.
