Hilton Worldwide will open 150 properties carrying its new midscale
“premium economy” brand Spark in India through an agreement with an
Indian developer, Hilton announced Tuesday. The properties would mark the
introduction of Spark in the Asia-Pacific region.
Hilton signed a licensing agreement Olive by Embassy, a
subsidiary of The Embassy Group, which owns a pair of Hilton properties in
Bengaluru, to open the Spark properties. Hilton announced neither a timeline
for development nor whether all 150 properties would be conversions but noted
that the first openings would “open in Southern India with a focus on
Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Goa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.”
“We are committed to expanding our presence in South
Asia,” Hilton CFO and president of global development Kevin Jacobs. “Rapid
middle-class formation continues to take place across this dynamic region,
where we see tremendous long-term growth prospects for Hilton.”
Hilton last year opened its first
Spark property in Mystic, Conn., and subsequently launched the brand in
Canada and the
United Kingdom. Outside of this deal, Hilton said 100 Spark properties were
in “various stages of development” and called Spark “the fastest
launch-to-open brand in Hilton’s history.”
