LOS ANGELES — In the past five years, IHG Hotels & Resorts has grown from 11 to 18 brands, and Chief Development Officer for the Americas Julienne Smith said this growth is bolstering the expansion of its luxury and lifestyle portfolio.
"Fast forward to today, we have 440 luxury and lifestyle hotels open worldwide," Smith said during a video interview with Hotel News Now at the 2023 Americas Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles. "We've got a robust pipeline for growth and we're focused on building that top end to complement who we're really known for, which is our upper-midscale and extended-stay branding."
IHG's most recent endeavor is its exclusive and strategic alliance with Mallorca, Spain-based Iberostar Hotels & Resorts. Iberostar has 70 hotels concentrated in the Caribbean and Central America, as well as other parts of the globe, which gives IHG presence in the all-inclusive market.
"Customers can enjoy IHG One Rewards and Iberostar can enjoy our platforms, our sales efforts and so forth. And we can enjoy the great brand-name recognition that they've created over the last 60-some years," Smith said.
IHG's other luxury and lifestyle brands include Six Senses, Regent, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Vignette Collection, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants and Hotel Indigo.
To drive growth in each brand and continue entering new markets, Smith said she's focused on structuring her team with the right people.
"With our entry into luxury and lifestyle, our partnership with Iberostar, we absolutely have the ability to grow in more resort markets, particularly in the Caribbean and 'MLAC' as we call it — Mexico, Latin America and Caribbean — where we don't have a ton of product in comparison to the U.S.," she said. "I've built my team around that, too. We've restructured in the last few months, where I did bring on a leader ... who is digging into opportunities like we've never done before."
In terms of markets across the Americas that present more opportunities for growth, Smith said it's in easily accessible leisure markets.
"If you look at where the [average daily rate] growth really is, it's in drive-in, leisure markets in the U.S., easy-to-fly-to destinations in our MLAC region. People are spending money on vacations; it's still largely leisure-driven," she said.
For more from HNN's interview with Julienne Smith, watch the video above.