GCP Hospitality and IHG take over 14 Kyoto hotels in 1,063-key deal
Gaw Capital Partners’ GCP Hospitality will manage 14 hotels in Kyoto under a deal with IHG, adding more than 1,000 rooms to the group’s Japan portfolio. Twelve properties will convert to IHG’s Garner midscale brand, with one Holiday Inn Express and one unbranded hotel included. The hotels are set to
Gaw Capital Partners’ GCP Hospitality is taking managerial control of 14 hotels in Kyoto under a deal with IHG that will give the global lodging giant more than 1,000 additional rooms in Japan’s ancient capital. The 1,063-key collection comprises 12 properties to be converted to IHG’s Garner midscale brand, one Holiday Inn Express and one unbranded hotel, the companies said Monday in a release. The hotels are set to open in phases during the next 12 months after renovations and rebranding.
The hospitality arm of Hong Kong-based Gaw will lead the management team, while IHG provides its brands, technology, marketing and distribution systems. The properties are spread across districts around Kyoto station, Shijo and Gojo, with financial terms and the hotels’ current names and ownership undisclosed. “Building on GCP Hospitality’s successful track record in Japan, we are pleased to expand our partnership with IHG through this historic portfolio agreement,” said GCP Hospitality CEO Erwann Mahe.
The agreement follows a record year for Kyoto tourism, with the city welcoming 62.8 million visitors in 2025, crossing the 60 million threshold for the first time, according to a municipal government survey. International visitors jumped 16.5 per cent to 12.7 million, while their pre-pandemic total in 2019 was 8.9 million. Tourist spending reached a record JPY 2.5 trillion (US$15.9 billion), while overnight visitors climbed to an all-time high of 16.6 million.
More recent data points to sustained demand despite some softening in room performance. Occupancy across a sample of 118 major Kyoto hotels reached 78.9 per cent in June, down 0.9 percentage points from a year earlier, while the average daily rate eased 0.9 per cent to JPY 16,854 and revenue per available room fell 2 per cent to JPY 13,298, according to the Kyoto City Tourism Association. The tourism rebound has helped drive investment in the city’s lodging sector, with Tokyu Land-sponsored Activia Properties agreeing in June to buy the 281-room Ibis Styles Kyoto Shijo for JPY 11.5 billion.
Gaw’s Kyoto deal extends a relationship dating to 2015, when the family-controlled firm led a consortium to buy out InterContinental Hong Kong from IHG for US$938 million and retained the group as operator, with GCP Hospitality overseeing asset management. The latest tie-up takes that partnership into Japan’s mainstream lodging market through Garner, a conversion-focused brand targeting value-conscious business and leisure travellers. Launched in August 2023, Garner has become IHG’s fastest brand to reach 100 operating hotels worldwide, according to the UK-based group.
IHG introduced Garner in Japan 18 months ago with three hotels in nearby Osaka, entering a business-hotel segment traditionally dominated by domestic operators. The Kyoto signing adds 12 Garner properties in one stroke and brings IHG its third Holiday Inn Express in Japan, after hotels in Osaka and Sapporo. The conversions will complement IHG’s existing Kyoto properties, including Six Senses Kyoto, ANA Crowne Plaza Kyoto, Holiday Inn Kyoto Gojo and Garner Hotel Kyoto Shijo Karasuma, positioning the company as one of the city’s largest international hotel operators.
