The master-licensee agreement covering Ibis and Mercure in India, signed in April 2025, was terminated after both sides failed to close definitive agreements. A target of 300 Indian hotels by 2030, up from 71, now loses its route into tier-two and tier-three towns.
Why it matters
Treebo keeps its plan intact: 2,000 economy hotels in five years on a franchise-only model at a 20% fee. That supply reaches the market unbranded, which changes who owns the guest relationship in small-town India.
Industry lens
Unbranded economy rooms staying independent favour the OTAs, because a franchise-only chain has no direct channel worth defending. MakeMyTrip and Cleartrip gain more from Treebo staying unaffiliated than from another Ibis in Indore.
Pattern
Radisson signed ten Indian hotels in a single week three days earlier, while Accor lost the partner that carried it into tier-two towns. International chains are converging on the same mid-market rooms and getting very different results.