The hotel chain currently has seven properties affiliated to it in the country in Chennai, Calcutta, Ahmedabad, Varanasi, Mathura and two in Cochin. The chain now plans to go to the other big cities in India, including Delhi and Mumbai. And it also plans to fund the basic advertising expenses to promote the brand for its franchisee in the country. India is the second largest feeder market from Europe, where we already have a strong presence, he said.

Announcing its tie-up with Ambica Empire, a three-star hotel in Chennai, Evans said: "We are very strong in North America (with 2,400 properties) and Europe (around 1,200 hotels) and now would like to focus on Asia. The hotel chain plans tie-ups with atleast 250 properties in Asia by the year 2005. It currently has only 30 hotels in the region.Other than India, the hotel chain will concentrate in China, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. It has 3 lakh guest rooms across the world which do a turnover of about $8 billion. The revenues to the chain from North America alone is $120 million. Started in 1946, officials of the hotel chain claim that it is the largest single brand in the hotel industry in the world.

Ambica Empire had earlier soft-launched in August 1999. Built with an investment of Rs 13 crore, the hotel has opened 40 of its 100 rooms for occupation. The rest of the rooms are expected to be ready for occupation by March 2000 and will involve an investment of another Rs 8 crore, according to Ambica Krishna, chairman of the Ambica group. Krishna, expects the tie-up to give him international recognition at an annual payment that is less than half of what most international chains charge. Ambica will have access to the global reservation system of Best Western and to the training facilities of the international chain, apart from marketing support. Anybody in Europe can book a room in Ambica by calling the toll-free number of the chain. The hotel has recently launched its website: www.ambicaempire.com.