UK-based Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of the leading global hotel chains, has yet again taken over the operations and management of Hotel Ruposhi Bangla after a 28-year hiatus.
State-owned Bangladesh Services Limited (BSL) that owns Ruposhi on Sunday struck a 30-year management deal with IHG to re-brand the hotel as Inter Continental Dhaka.
Following the agreement, the hotel will soon undergo an extensive renovation work to upgrade it to Inter Continental brand standards, and will be renamed in 2014. The IHG will get 2 percent of total income of the hotel in the first three years, 2.5 percent in the fourth and fifth year, and 3 percent in the remaining years as management fee. It will also get 8-10 percent of its total net profit. The deal will remain effective for 30 years and can be extended depending on performance, with each expansion period spanning five years. The hotel, currently operating as Hotel Ruposhi Bangla, will initially be operated and managed under the existing name prior to its re-branding. The hotel is the first international five-star hotel in Bangladesh.
Ataharul Islam, chairman of BSL and secretary for Civil Aviation and Tourism, Lutfur Rahman, managing director of BSL, and Christopher James Moloney, chief operating officer (South West Asia) of IHG, signed the agreement at a ceremony at the hotel. Faruk Khan, minister for civil aviation and tourism, was also present.
“The hotel has a very unique place in the history of Bangladesh. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman held important meetings here during the liberation war period,” Khan said. He hoped that the hotel would turn into a world-class one through extensive renovation in the next couple of years.
Moloney said, “IHG is delighted to return to Bangladesh market and the hotel will be prepared to deliver its guests the highest quality of services and all modern facilities.” IHG is committed to assisting BSL in the renovation process in compliance with their brand standard to make this hotel an iconic one, he added.
The IHG managed the hotel from 1966 to 1983 and handed over the responsibilities to another international hotel chain Starwood Hotels and Resorts, who operated under the brand name Sheraton. Starwood’s 25-year deal with BSL expired on December 31, 2008 and was extended nine times, each time for three months, before ending its term in April last year. BSL took over operations and management on May 1, 2011 and renamed the hotel as Ruposhi Bangla. Earlier, the tourism ministry had already approved the appointment of the IHG to manage and operate the hotel. BSL signed a letter of intent (LOI) with the IHG but the official signing was delayed as the hotel chain proposed some strict conditions before finalising the deal.
According to the agreement, the employees and workers of Hotel Ruposhi Bangla will not be terminated. They will be provided jobs in other IHG hotels. Currently, some 650 people work in Hotel Ruposhi Bangla.
