At ATM Dubai 2026, we had a chat with Kiran Kumar, Regional Director of Marketing for UHM Middle East and India, to explore the company’s rapid growth across India and its vision for the future of hospitality.
- UHM has signed 10 properties in India within its first eight months.
- Kiran Kumar highlights the potential of India’s Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
- UHM’s portfolio spans leisure, nature and urban hospitality.
- Wellness is evolving beyond spas into holistic living and accommodation.
Arabian Travel Market 2026 has officially kicked off in Dubai, bringing together the travel and hospitality industry for another round of conversations around where the sector is heading next. Taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre from September 14 to 17, the trade show arrives at a time when hospitality markets across the region and beyond are continuing to evolve at pace.
Against that backdrop, we sat down with Kiran Kumar, Regional Director of Marketing for UHM Middle East and India, to get a closer look at the company’s expansion strategy and its growing presence in India. For UHM, the Indian market is already moving faster than anticipated. Having entered the country in December last year, the company has signed 10 properties within its first seven to eight months, with one expected to open shortly and several more scheduled across the coming years.
What makes the strategy particularly interesting is UHM’s position as a third-party, or white-label, hotel operator. Rather than building the business around its own consumer-facing identity, Kumar says the company’s priority is protecting the interests of property owners and investors. The objective is straightforward but significant: position each property to perform optimally, strengthen its long-term value and ultimately improve the underlying asset for its owner. It is a model that puts the operator behind the scenes, while making performance and asset value the centre of the proposition.
India’s opportunity, according to Kumar, also lies beyond the country’s already crowded major metropolitan markets. UHM is seeing considerable potential in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, where growing tourism demand and access to natural destinations are creating new hospitality possibilities. Its current portfolio reflects that approach, spanning leisure-led destinations connected to mountains, forests and other natural settings, alongside selected business locations. The strategy is not about chasing one particular type of destination, but identifying properties and owners where the fundamentals align.
Then there is wellness, a space Kumar believes has fundamentally changed in the post-COVID travel landscape. For UHM, wellness is no longer simply another hotel amenity or an occasional spa treatment. The company is looking at a much broader ecosystem built around eating well, sleeping well, fitness, relaxation and long-term wellbeing. Its Serenity spa brand is part of that existing proposition, while future plans extend towards wellness accommodation, wellness living and exercise-focused concepts. In other words, the next generation of hospitality may not just ask where you want to travel, but how you want to feel when you get there.
With UHM also expanding across Europe and exploring opportunities in markets including Africa and Eastern Europe, Kumar’s outlook is notably unconstrained by geography. The company’s stated ambition is to reach 100 business units globally by the end of 2030, but with India’s growth already outpacing expectations, that target could arrive sooner than originally anticipated. As ATM 2026 gets underway in Dubai, UHM’s trajectory offers a timely snapshot of a hospitality sector that is increasingly looking beyond traditional hotel markets, towards new destinations, new operating models and a more holistic definition of the guest experience.
For UHM, the road ahead is clearly one of expansion, but with a focus on building value rather than simply adding properties to its portfolio. As India continues to open up new hospitality opportunities beyond its major cities, and wellness becomes an increasingly important part of the travel experience, the company is positioning itself to grow alongside these shifts. With an ambitious global pipeline and an evolving approach to hospitality, UHM’s next chapter looks set to be defined by new destinations, stronger partnerships and experiences designed around the changing needs of today’s traveller!
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