The new Ramnagar property will become Garner’s sixth signing in India as IHG expands its midscale portfolio into high-potential leisure destinations beyond the country’s major metros.

IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed Garner Hotel Jim Corbett, a 50-room property scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2027 in Ramnagar, Uttarakhand.

The hotel will be owned by Victorian Corporation and managed by United Hospitality Management India, extending IHG’s relationship with the third-party operator as the group accelerates the rollout of Garner across India.

Located in Ramnagar, the gateway to Jim Corbett National Park, the property will occupy approximately three acres and target travellers visiting one of northern India’s most established wildlife and leisure destinations.

The signing marks Garner’s sixth hotel agreement in India, reinforcing IHG’s strategy of taking its newer brands beyond the country’s largest metropolitan markets and into leisure destinations and emerging commercial centres.

Garner gains momentum in India

IHG introduced Garner to India in 2025 as its newest midscale conversion brand.

The concept is positioned around straightforward essentials, including convenient locations, comfortable sleep and breakfast, while giving owners access to IHG’s distribution, technology and loyalty infrastructure. Its conversion-friendly model is designed to allow existing hotels to transition to the brand with greater operational flexibility than more prescriptive formats.

Globally, Garner has already reached 100 open hotels since launching in 2023, making it the fastest-scaling brand in IHG’s history. The brand also has a global pipeline of almost 80 additional hotels.

In India, the pipeline has expanded rapidly.

Earlier Garner signings include properties in Etawah, Kathua, Kutch, Bhiwadi, Jagdalpur and Ahmedabad Motera, reflecting a development strategy that is targeting both secondary commercial centres and destinations with growing domestic travel demand.

Sudeep Jain, Managing Director, South West Asia at IHG Hotels & Resorts, said Garner’s momentum in India reflects strong alignment between the brand’s proposition and what both hotel owners and travellers are seeking in the market.

For UHM India, the Jim Corbett agreement further expands its operating relationship with IHG. Deepika Arora, Managing Director of United Hospitality Management India, said the partnership combines UHM’s local operating capabilities with IHG’s global brands, systems and distribution platform.

Leisure destinations become a bigger development target

The choice of Jim Corbett is notable.

India’s branded hotel expansion is increasingly extending beyond traditional gateway cities as domestic leisure travel creates opportunities in wildlife, spiritual, hill and resort destinations.

Jim Corbett benefits from road connectivity with major cities across North India and attracts visitors throughout the year, creating demand for accommodation that sits between independent hotels and higher-priced resort offerings.

Parveen Saraswat, Director of Victorian Corporation, said rising demand for reliable accommodation in Jim Corbett created an opportunity to introduce an international brand to the market.

The Garner proposition could fit particularly well within that environment.

Rather than attempting to compete directly with full-service luxury resorts, the brand is designed around dependable midscale accommodation at an accessible price point. That gives IHG an avenue to participate in destinations where branded demand is growing but where a larger full-service hotel may not always be the most efficient development model.

IHG builds a larger India pipeline

The signing also sits within a much broader expansion plan for IHG in India.

The company currently operates 53 hotels across seven brands in the country and has a pipeline of 110 hotels expected to open over the next three to five years, according to ETTravelWorld.

At the start of 2026, IHG said it intended to grow to more than 400 open and in-development hotels in India within five years, following a third consecutive year of record signings.

Much of that growth is expected to come from the mainstream and midscale segments, alongside continued expansion in premium and luxury hospitality.

Garner Hotel Jim Corbett therefore represents more than another 50 rooms in IHG’s development pipeline.

It shows how the group intends to use a flexible midscale brand to enter destinations where domestic travel demand is building quickly, but where international branded supply remains comparatively limited.

If that approach continues, smaller leisure markets could become an increasingly important part of IHG’s India growth story.