The Premier Inn hotel in Sharjah. The Premier Inn hotel in Sharjah.

Premier Inn's parent company Whitbread has asserted its focus on international growth in the Middle East and Germany, while planning to withdraw from India and South-East Asia.

A statement released by Whitbread said that in line with a group strategy set out in April, the company will concentrate "the Premier Inn international growth strategy on a smaller number of specific markets where it can generate good long term sustainable returns and where there is the greatest long term opportunity to build scale".

In the same statement, Whitbread revealed that Premier Inn will continue to grow its businesses in Germany, and in the Middle East where it operates "profitable and growing joint venture".

It confirmed it will begin a phased withdrawal from its operations in India and South East Asia.

The company claimed that the impact of the cost associated with the withdrawal from South East Asia is "not considered material".

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Whitbread CEO Alison Brittain said: "“In April I laid out a three-point plan to build a bigger and better Whitbread. I reiterated the strong growth prospects for Whitbread in the UK, where we have laid out bold milestones for Premier Inn and Costa and confirmed that Whitbread also has an exciting future beyond the UK.

"A key strategic theme is to focus on our strengths internationally and that means identifying those opportunities to invest our capital and management time wisely to generate the best and most sustainable returns. To build a successful future for Premier Inn overseas, we must focus on those markets where we can grow scale and where our brand proposition is most compelling for our customers.”

Premier Inn currently operates six hotels in the UAE, with one more close to opening in Doha.