IHG® appoints Colleen Keating as Chief Operating Officer, Americas

Industry veteran brings more than 25 years of operational leadership experience to company’s largest region

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group^®), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, today announces the appointment of Colleen Keating to the position of Chief Operating Officer, Americas, effective April 1. 

In this role, Colleen will be responsible for leading the operations for 3,800 IHG hotels across the U.S. and Canada, further strengthening and cultivating relationships with owners, and overseeing franchisee performance support. Colleen will serve on the Americas Regional Leadership Team and will be based at IHG’s regional headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Colleen brings more than 25 years of operational leadership experience, most recently serving as Executive Vice President of Operations for Davidson Hotels & Resorts in Atlanta, where she led all operations functions to deliver greater value to owners and investors under brands that include Hilton, Hyatt, Westin, Marriott, Sheraton and Renaissance. Prior to Davidson, Colleen spent 17 years at Starwood, most recently leading its franchise operations for North America. 

Elie Maalouf, Chief Executive Officer, Americas, IHG, commented: “With her wealth of hospitality operations experience across some of the industry’s most prominent companies, Colleen is the ideal choice to spearhead our operations and to drive further value for our owners across the U.S. and Canada.”

Colleen Keating commented: “This is a tremendous opportunity and I’m really looking forward to working alongside the Americas leadership team and our first-class owner community. Together, I know that we can build upon an already-strong operational foundation to make our iconic hotel brands even more well-known as hallmarks of performance and quality.”

Earlier in her career, Colleen held management and sales leadership roles in several hotels for Starwood Hotels, Omni Hotels, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, and a franchise operator of Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn Express hotels. Colleen has been active in the industry and the community, having served as an executive committee member and chair of the Massachusetts Lodging Association and on the board of management trustees for Unite HERE Local 26, among many other boards and industry organizations. Colleen attended Western New England College in Massachusetts.