25 August 2008
Holiday Inn Brand Family Growing Strong With New Look
ATLANTA (Aug. 25, 2008) - The Holiday Inn brand family is a growth engine for IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [Lon: IHG; NYSE: IHG (ADRs)] in the Americas and around the world. During the first half of 2008, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express signed a combined 203 hotels (24,327 rooms) globally - continuing the momentum from a record year in 2007 when the brands signed a combined 524 deals (63,431 rooms). The great majority of these signings will be new build properties. The Holiday Inn brand family increased its combined global development pipeline to more than 133,000 rooms (1,121 hotels).
"The number of signings for full-service Holiday Inn hotels has been tremendous and is a testament to the strength of the brand, its viable position in the marketplace and its value proposition for owners," said Jim Anhut, senior vice president, Franchise Development, the Americas, IHG. "The Holiday Inn relaunch focuses on the things that matter most to customers when they think about quality - great beds, great showers and fantastic down-to-earth service with a more up-to-date look and owners love its impact and what it means for their hotels."
Since being relaunched in October 2007, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express have experienced strong growth as customer and owner feedback has continued to be extremely positive. The Holiday Inn brand family has signed more than 45,000 rooms (365 hotels) since the relaunch.
"The relaunch of the Holiday Inn brand has been a good business proposition for me to help solidify marketshare in a competitive market," said Kal Patel, president, Image Hotels, Inc., a hotel management & development company and owner of the Holiday Inn Savannah-Pooler, Ga. "The relaunch has reinvigorated the brand and reminds guests of the history that they have had with Holiday Inn."
During the first half of 2008, the Holiday Inn brand family opened a net 9,380 rooms (92 hotels) in the Americas, including hotels in New York City; Los Angeles; Oakland, Calif.; Jacksonville Beach, Fla.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Louisville, Ky. and Wichita Falls, Texas. Around the world, Holiday Inn is opening a hotel a day and signing two while Holiday Inn Express continues to be one of the fastest growing hotel brands in the industry, opening an average of two hotels per week.
Combined, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express have 416,975 rooms (3,223 hotels) open worldwide. In the Americas region alone, the brands have a combined total of 314,067 rooms (2,593 hotels) in the system.
Media Contact:
Stephen Boggs
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Notes to Editors:
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms. IHG owns, manages, leases or franchises, through various subsidiaries, over 4,000 hotels and more than 590,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world. The Group owns a portfolio of well recognized and respected hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites®, Candlewood Suites® and Hotel Indigo®, and also manages the world’s largest hotel loyalty program, Priority Club® Rewards with over 39 million members worldwide.
IHG has more than 1,700 hotels in its development pipeline, which will create 150,000 jobs worldwide over the next few years.
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group’s holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.
IHG offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at www.ihg.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards program at www.priorityclub.com. For the latest news from IHG, visit our online Press Office at www.ihg.com/media