IHG’s CEO, Keith Barr, announced that the group will soon introduce a new Luxury & Lifestyle brand.
Barr said of the new brand:
”We’re also excited to announce that we’ll soon be launching a new Luxury & Lifestyle collection brand to provide further choice for guests and owners. Over the last four years we’ve added five new brands to create a portfolio of 16, each targeting a specific segment and enhancing our market reach. ”
”The addition of a collection brand will provide high quality independent hotels access to the many benefits of IHG’s system, whilst retaining a property’s distinctive identity. There are currently around 1.5 million independently run rooms in the market segments we are targeting, and we expect the collection to attract more than 100 hotels within 10 years.”
IHG also published its financial results for the first half of the year.
RevPAR of the group, which experienced a significant improvement in demand in the first half year, increased by 20% compared to 2020 and decreased by 43% compared to 2019.
The group’s total revenue was $1.18 Billion, down 6% year-on-year.
While IHG opened 132 new hotels in the first six months, the group’s total number of hotels reached 5,994. During this period, the Group signed 203 new hotel deals. In the first six months, the company removed 102 hotels, 56 of which were Holiday Inns and Crowne Plazas in the Americas and EMEAA regions.
Keith Barr commented:
“Trading improved significantly during the first half of 2021, with travel demand returning strongly as vaccines roll out, restrictions ease, and economic activity rebuilds. It has been great to see our teams welcome more and more guests back into our hotels, with domestic leisure bookings leading the way, particularly in the US and China. Essential business travel was a key element of our resilience throughout the pandemic, and we are now seeing more group activity and corporate bookings start to come back. ”
”These trends and the momentum in the business have continued in recent weeks, including in EMEAA where a lifting of travel restrictions in some markets is also now driving improvements in demand. With occupancy and rate continuing to improve, nearly 50% of our hotels achieved RevPAR above 2019 levels in July.”
IHG already has several brands in the luxury and lifestyle segment, including InterContinental, Six Senses, Kimpton and Hotel Indigo.
