Wyndham's New Brand in India to Focus on Smaller Cities

17.10.2024 - 14:57 / skift.com / Ranju Alex / Sébastien Bazin / Bulbul Dhawan

Wyndham Hotels and Resorts is introducing its Microtel by Wyndham Brand to India – its eighth brand in the country – through a development agreement with NILE Hospitality.

Wyndham expects to open 40 Microtel properties across India by 2031, with the first ones coming in in 2025. 

The brand aims to tap into the growing economy lodging segment in India, Vikram Singh Chauhan, Founder and CEO of NILE Hospitality said. 

Wyndham has said that the Microtel brand will focus on Tier-2, 3, and 4 cities. Each property is expected to have at least 50 rooms, along with meeting and social spaces, gyms.

The brand’s focus on smaller Indian cities is in line with the broader trend in the country’s hospitality sector. In the first half of 2024, 83% of the branded hotel signings were in Tier-2 and 3 cities, according to a report by real estate firm JLL.

Smaller cities in India are the focal point of expansion strategies for all major brands. In recent years, Tier-2 markets such as Jaipur, Pune, Amritsar, Jammu, Guwahati, and Varanasi have seen a surge in branded hotels. Tier-3 cities, including Durgapur, Jaisalmer, Ayodhya, and Prayagraj are also emerging as centers for hotel development. New branded hotels are also coming up in Tier-4 cities Bhuj and Saharanpur.

Marriott’s South Asia area vice president Ranju Alex had earlier told Skift that the hotel chain is expanding into Tier-2 and 3 cities in India due to the changing consumer behavior. IHG Hotels and Resorts’ Sudeep Jain has also spoken about the chain’s strategy to focus on secondary markets across the country. 

Before Wyndham’s Microtel, other hotel chains have also launched brands focusing on emerging Indian markets.

In 2022, Radisson Hotel Group launched a midscale brand specifically for the Tier-2 to Tier-5 markets in India: Park Inn and Suites by Radisson. And earlier this year, Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) brought back its Gateway brand as a full-service hotel offering in the upscale segment that is ideal for emerging markets in metros as well as Tier-2 and 3 cities. 

Speaking at a conference in April, Accor chairman and CEO Sébastien Bazin said that India is an untapped market. He pointed out that out of 1.4 billion Indians, 1 billion live in secondary and tertiary cities, making this the potential market area. He said that chains could set up hotels in these cities to grow their portfolio. “That demand exists, those cities exist, and now, airlines also exist because they have hubs,” he had asserted.