InterContinental Hotels Group Plc (IHG), the world’s largest provider of hotel rooms, plans to double the number properties it manages in Southeast Asia in three years to meet demand from tourists and business travelers.

Denham, England-based InterContinental, which has 37 hotels in Southeast Asia, plans to triple the number of properties in Vietnam to nine and double locations in Singapore to eight over the next three to five years, said Clarence Tan, chief operating officer for Asia and Australasia as per a Bloomberg report by Pooja Thakur.

“We are very bullish on Southeast Asia, particularly excited about Vietnam and Thailand,” Tokyo-based Tan said in a telephone interview today. “We are getting a bit of wind in terms of signing new contracts as owners are willing to part with existing brands to come to our brands.”

Business and leisure travel is recovering after companies and consumers cut spending during the global recession that started in 2008 following the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Revenue per room in the industry rose 9.8 percent last year in the Asia-Pacific region and 8.2 percent in the Americas, according to London-based researcher STR Global.

The operator of brands such as InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn also plans to double the hotels in Thailand and Indonesia to 24 and 14 hotels respectively over the next five years, he said.

InterContinental Hotel’s Chief Executive Officer Richard Solomons said last month the hotelier is well-placed to benefit from demand in emerging markets such as the greater China region, which accounts for about 12 percent of group revenue.

The group is increasing its presence in Vietnam with the signing of two Holiday Inn resorts, and opened a Crowne Plaza hotel in Semarang, Indonesia, in January this year, Tan said. InterContinental expects demand for accommodations on the resort islands of Phuket, Phi-Phi and Krabi in Thailand and the city of Bangkok to grow, he said.