PREMIER Inn, the UK’s largest hotel chain with over 40,500 rooms and more than 600 hotels, is keen to extend its reach in Asia-Pacific beyond India.
Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily during yesterday’s Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) UPDATE in Singapore, Paul Macpherson, managing director of Premier Inn’s parent company, Whitbread Hotels & Restaurants International, revealed that GVK Asia Real Estate Partners founder Erik Van Keulen had recently been appointed as its regional head for Asia-Pacific, to spearhead its expansion in the region.
“We are not ruling out any market at the moment and are examining all opportunities,” he explained. “There’s definitely room to build an economy brand here.”
Macpherson stressed that Premier Inn intends to grow its Asia-Pacific portfolio through new management contracts; in contrast to the owner-operator model it practices in the UK.
According to Macpherson, Whitbread has already agreed to a significant capital outlay to fund the chain’s expansion plans.
Meanwhile, two Premier Inn properties are currently in the pipeline in India, one in Goa and the second in Chennai. Both are scheduled to open in 2013, and will add to the chain’s Bengaluru Whitefield and New Delhi Shalimar Bagh properties.
