IHCL creates Select Service Business to accelerate growth across emerging brands

The structure reflects the growing importance of IHCL’s newer and emerging businesses. While Taj remains the company’s flagship luxury brand, IHCL is increasingly building scale across segments that address different travel occasions, price points and consumer behaviours. The Select Service Business is intended to sharpen that strategy by grouping distinct but complementary brands under one dedicated vertical.

The four businesses represent different parts of the hospitality market. Ginger operates in the midscale segment and is positioned around IHCL’s lean luxe hospitality model. Tree of Life focuses on experiential leisure resorts and private escapes in tranquil settings. amã Stays & Trails addresses the premium homestay segment through branded bungalows and villas. Qmin operates as IHCL’s culinary platform, with outlets across multiple formats.

Together, these brands give IHCL a broader growth platform beyond traditional full-service hotels. They allow the company to participate in midscale accommodation, leisure resorts, homestays, culinary retail and delivery-led food experiences. This combination is especially relevant in a market where Indian travellers are seeking more varied forms of hospitality, from branded stays in emerging cities to private leisure escapes and curated food concepts.

The scale of the new vertical is significant. IHCL says the Select Service Business brings together 260 Ginger hotels, more than 40 Tree of Life resorts, over 360 bungalows under amã Stays & Trails and more than 100 Qmin outlets. This gives the vertical immediate operational weight and a clear platform for expansion.

The creation of the new organisation also signals a more structured approach to business performance. Rather than managing these brands as separate emerging initiatives, IHCL is placing them within a defined vertical that can focus on scale, innovation and profitability. This should allow each brand to retain its own positioning while benefiting from shared leadership, commercial focus and strategic alignment.

Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of IHCL, described the Select Service Business as a non-linear growth engine for the company. The phrase is important because it suggests growth that is not limited to traditional hotel ownership or conventional full-service expansion. Instead, IHCL is using brands and platforms that can scale through different asset models, formats and consumer segments.

The business is expected to deliver an enterprise revenue CAGR of more than 25% under Accelerate 2030. This makes the vertical one of the company’s key growth levers over the next several years. It also shows that IHCL sees these businesses as strategically important, not merely secondary to its established hotel brands.

Leadership of the new vertical will sit with Deepika Rao, who has been redesignated as Executive Vice President, Select Service Business, IHCL. She will lead the business together with a dedicated leadership team responsible for performance across the four brands. The structure will operate across five distinct legal entities.

The leadership team reflects the range of functions required to scale a multi-brand hospitality platform. It includes leaders responsible for human resources, brand leadership, development, marketing, commercial strategy, operations, openings, finance and strategy. This suggests that IHCL is treating the Select Service Business as a substantial organisation with its own growth architecture.

The inclusion of ANK Hotels and Pride Hospitality is also central to the announcement. Their addition has helped IHCL increase scale across the relevant brands and accelerate the formation of a more focused business vertical. This inorganic component supports the company’s wider strategy of combining organic growth with selective partnerships and acquisitions.

For Ginger, the new structure reinforces its role as a major midscale growth brand within IHCL. Ginger has become increasingly important as India’s hospitality market expands beyond major metros into tiered cities, business corridors and infrastructure-led growth markets. Its lean luxe positioning allows IHCL to participate in demand that may not require a luxury or upscale full-service hotel, but still values brand reliability, design and operational efficiency.

Tree of Life gives the vertical a different profile. Its focus on experiential leisure, private escapes and nature-led hospitality allows IHCL to address travellers looking for smaller, more intimate and destination-focused stays. As leisure travel in India becomes more experience-driven, Tree of Life gives IHCL a platform in tranquil settings and resort-led markets.

amã Stays & Trails adds a premium homestay dimension. With more than 360 bungalows under the brand, it allows IHCL to serve travellers seeking privacy, family stays, group travel and home-like accommodation with the reassurance of branded hospitality. This segment has become increasingly relevant as guests look for villas, bungalows and curated local stays rather than conventional hotel rooms alone.

Qmin brings food and beverage into the growth story. As a culinary platform with more than 100 outlets, Qmin allows IHCL to extend its hospitality identity beyond hotels and into everyday dining, delivery and retail-style formats. This gives the company a way to build consumer engagement outside the traditional stay cycle.

The combination of these four brands creates a broader lifestyle and consumption ecosystem. Guests might stay at a Ginger hotel for business, choose a Tree of Life resort for a weekend retreat, book an amã bungalow for a family gathering and interact with Qmin through food and beverage. This creates multiple points of contact between IHCL and its customers.

The Select Service Business also supports IHCL’s wider ambition under Accelerate 2030. The strategy is built around growth, profitability, brand expansion and a broader hospitality ecosystem. By grouping Ginger, Tree of Life, amã Stays & Trails and Qmin together, IHCL is creating a focused engine for brands that can scale across newer travel and consumption patterns.

The new structure could also improve speed of decision-making. Brands in faster-growing or more asset-light segments often need different operating models from traditional luxury hotels. A dedicated vertical can help align development, operations, commercial strategy and brand management around the specific needs of these businesses.

For hotel owners and partners, the structure may also make IHCL’s proposition clearer. Developers interested in midscale hotels, leisure resorts, homestays or culinary-led hospitality can engage with a dedicated organisation that understands these segments. This may help IHCL accelerate signings and conversions across diverse markets.

For guests, the benefit should be a more coherent brand experience. Each brand remains distinct, but the Select Service Business can help strengthen standards, innovation and service consistency. This is particularly important as these brands grow quickly across different locations and formats.

The announcement also reflects the changing shape of Indian hospitality. Growth is no longer limited to luxury palaces, urban business hotels or large resorts. Demand is spreading across branded midscale hotels, experiential leisure retreats, premium homestays and food platforms. IHCL’s new vertical is designed to capture that wider opportunity.

The company’s broader scale gives the initiative a strong base. IHCL’s portfolio includes 650 hotels, including 268 in the pipeline, across four continents, 15 countries and more than 300 locations. Its brands span luxury, boutique, wellness, full-service, upscale, experiential, midscale and homestay segments. The Select Service Business sits within that wider portfolio as a focused growth platform.

The announcement also reinforces IHCL’s continued evolution from a traditional hotel company into a broader hospitality ecosystem. Through Taj, Claridges Collection, Brij, Atmantan, SeleQtions, Gateway, Vivanta, Tree of Life, Ginger, amã Stays & Trails and Qmin, the company is building a portfolio that addresses multiple travel occasions and customer needs.

With 260 Ginger hotels, more than 40 Tree of Life resorts, over 360 amã Stays & Trails bungalows and more than 100 Qmin outlets, the new Select Service Business gives IHCL a substantial platform for growth across midscale, leisure, homestay and culinary hospitality. Led by Deepika Rao and supported by a dedicated leadership team, the vertical is positioned to drive scale, innovation and profitable expansion under Accelerate 2030.