Wyndham Hotel Group signs Agreement with Royal Orchid Hotels to develop 10 New Ramada Hotels in India

Wyndham Hotel Group has signed an agreement with Royal Orchid Hotels Ltd. of Bangalore, India, to develop 10 Ramada hotels totaling at least 1,000 rooms in the Indian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtr, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Chender Baljee, Royal Orchid chairman, said his company would invest 5 billion Indian rupees, or about US$100 million, to build four-star-quality Ramada hotels during the next three to four years.

Steven. A. Rudnitsky, Wyndham Hotel Group president and chief executive officer, said India represents a “significant, ongoing opportunity” for hotel development in the Asia Pacific region.

A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers report indicates the India market will require up to 125,000 new hotel rooms in India during the next five years.

“With international tourism receipts of US$5.7 billion and a record 3.9 million foreign visitors in 2005, India is critically important to our Asia Pacific development plans,” Rudnitsky said. “The agreement with Royal Orchid Hotels enables us to accelerate the expansion of our Ramada brand in the Indian market.”

Wyndham Hotel Group franchises Ramada, Days and Howard Johnson hotels in India. Royal Orchid Hotels is one of the largest lodging chains in Bangalore. The company, established in 1973, operates four hotels: Hotel Royal Orchid, Royal Orchid Central, Royal Orchid Harsha in Bangalore and Royal Orchid Metropole in Mysore.

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