A varied portfolio of brands
Our seven well-known and popular hotel brands mean that we can take advantage of most kinds of opportunity in hotel development.
Our varied portfolio also means that guests can find a hotel brand that's right for them, whatever their needs.Our operating system
IHG’s operating system is made up of all the things we do to drive demand for our brands. This includes our advertising and marketing campaigns, our 12 global call centres, 13 local language websites, an 8,000-strong sales force, Priority Club Rewards – the world’s largest hotel loyalty scheme which has 47 million members – and all the advantages that IHG’s global hotel distribution and scale brings to brand awareness.
Hotel distribution
IHG has nearly 4,400 hotels in nearly 100 countries worldwide. Our brands are in the top 3 in 7 of the 12 largest hotel markets in the world.
When people travel, they look for familiar brands they know from home, increasing the demand for hotels that operate under our brands around the world.
Advertising and marketing
Each year, our franchisees pay a fee into a central fund. We use this fund on their behalf for marketing and promotions to drive guest demand for our brands.
Brand sponsorships, television and print advertising campaigns and public relations activity across the globe are all ways in which the fund can be used.
Priority Club Rewards
IHG’s Priority Club Rewards is the largest hotel loyalty scheme in the world, with 47 million members.
Find out more about Priority Club Rewards
Web presence
Our 13 local language websites take over 7.4 million bookings a year – they're a shop window for our hotels across the world, 365 days a year. www.holiday-inn.com is one of the industry's most visited websites, notching up 75 million site visits in 2005.
Our websites operate in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish.
Reservation system
Our 12 global reservation offices are available to take hotel bookings from guests 24 hours a day in 15 languages including Arabic, Cantonese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog and Thai. They deal with 700 transactions per minute.
Sales force
We have a global sales force of more than 8,000 professionals throughout the world, talking about and selling the booking of hotels under our brands to individuals and companies.
Scale in key markets
IHG has more leading positions in the industry than any other hotel company. Twelve countries account for 2/3rds of the world market; we hold top three positions in seven of them.
As the world travel market evolves, scale across markets will be equally important. For example, there will be an estimated 100 million new outbound tourists from China within the next 15 years, compared with fewer than 10 million today. People trust familiar names when they travel, so our strong position in China helps to drive business from Chinese travellers in London and Paris.
Leading loyalty programme
With 47 million members worldwide, IHG’s loyalty scheme, Priority Club Rewards, is the largest in the hotel industry.
Strong management
The Chairman, David Webster, Chief Executive, Andrew Cosslett and Finance Director, Richard Solomons are strongly supported by the regional presidents Kirk Kinsell and Jim Abrahamson and Jan Smits, Regional Managing Director of Asia Australasia and Keith Barr, Regional Managing Director Greater China. Together, the management team has over 80 years of hotel experience.
Last updated 10 November 2009
