NEW YORK — Growing the number of customers in its loyalty program and expanding the company's hotel portfolio are the main focuses for IHG Hotels & Resorts' Americas chief executive.
In a video interview during the 2024 NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, IHG CEO of the Americas Jolyon Bulley said that prior to taking on his new role last year, he led the company’s luxury and lifestyle transformation work. It was only about seven years ago that IHG had InterContinental Hotels & Resorts as its sole luxury brand, but now it has five across the segment.
“We’re really looking to grow that in the U.S.,” he said.
IHG recently announced the opening of five luxury and lifestyle hotels in the Caribbean and Latin America, he said. It opened the Six Senses La Sagesse in Grenada, the Kimpton Virgilio in Mexico City, the Kimpton Mas Olas Resort & Spa in Mexico’s Baja Sur and the Hotel Indigo Grand Cayman and the Hotel Indigo La Paz Puerta Cortés in Mexico. It also signed the El Gran Encomendero in the Yucatan Peninsula to the Vignette Collection. There’s another 32 properties there in the pipeline.
“That’s testimony to our commitment to growing where the customer flows are and also the opportunities are,” Bulley said.
The are more new deals that will be announced soon, including the first Six Senses-branded hotel in the U.S., he said. The opening of the Regent Santa Monica brings the Regent brand back to the U.S. as well.
IHG’s premium brand category has been going through a transformation as well, Bulley said. Roughly 70% of the Crowne Plaza hotels have been renovated and are on their journey to a new future. The Voco brand has been growing well with its 25th signing in the Americas. IHG opened two new Even Hotels, with one in Waco, Texas, and the other at the Austin airport.
“That premium category there is slower to grow as far as the industry is concerned, but we’re making the progress that we expected there,” he said.
IHG’s powerhouse suites and essential brands remain the company’s fastest-growing segment, particularly the extended-stay brands, Bulley said. That segment includes its Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Candlewood Suites and Staybridge Suites brands.
The company’s newer midscale brands Avid and Garner are drawing developer interest, he said.
“The progress we’ve made on both of these brands is really starting to happen there,” he said. “It’s the fastest-growing consumer demand segment. Where there’s consumers, where there’s demand, there’s growth, and that’s where our owners are focused as well.”
For more of the interview with Bulley, watch the video above.