"With the inclusion of two new properties the total number of Best Western hotels in India has gone up to 16," Best Western Hotels India president & chief executive officer Anand S Gupta said.

The 32-room Ranbanka Hotel in Jodhpur will now be known as "Best Western Ranbanka Hotel" and the 40-room Resort Country Club, Gurgaon will be renamed as "Best Western Resort Country Club, he said. "Best Western is well on its way to becoming the fastest growing international brand in India. We have 16 properties in India and eight hotels in South Asia & Middle East region," Mr Gupta added.

"We are the market leader in the mid market segment having over 2,300 hotels in America and more than 1,400 hotels in Europe, the two major feeder markets for India. We are confident of achieving the same status in India and South Asia in the years to come," Mr Gupta said.

"Due to the reasonable fee structure and global connectivity, Best Western is set to become the market leader in the Indian mid market segment," he said citing a recent hotel franchise fee survey conducted by global hospitality consultant, HVS International which said that Best Western's franchise fee was the lowest among all the mid-scale hotel chains. Best Western claims to be the world's single largest hotel brand of independently owned and operated hotels.