ATLANTA — Recent moves IHG Hotels & Resorts has made to introduce new brands and shift hotels out of its system are fueling growth in locations and segments that meet developer demand, according to the company.
In a video interview with Hotel News Now held during the Hunter Hotel Investment Conference, IHG development executive Julienne Smith said the company’s recent growth has been driven in part by conversion activity, new brand launches and pipeline optimization.
Smith currently is senior vice president of development for IHG's luxury and upscale brands, and oversees development and owner support. In June, she will assume the role of chief development officer in the Americas.
She said about 25% of the company's 2021 openings were conversions. In the U.S., the majority of IHG’s upper-upscale and luxury hotel openings have been conversions as well, while select-service and extended-stay openings have largely been new construction.
“We have the opportunity to grow in a lot of markets where we weren’t already because of the brands that we’ve launched,” she said, citing the upscale Voco conversion brand, which launched in 2018; as well as the 2021 launch of conversion soft brand Vignette Collection. Both brands debuted outside the U.S. The first Voco in the U.S. opened in 2020, and the first Vignette in the U.S. is “coming soon,” Smith said.
These new brands help the company round out its offerings for developers while meeting demand from travelers, Smith said. In addition, the company removed nearly 50,000 rooms from its system in 2021.
“We’ve been able to launch brands that allow us to grow in resort and urban markets and fill that pipeline in a way that we haven’t before,” she said. “Holiday Inn Express, Candlewood Suites, Staybridge Suites continue to be category-killers for us. … And now we’re able to round out our luxury lifestyle portfolio and add brands.”
IHG also is bullish on the return of city-center demand in the U.S. In December, the company opened Voco Times Square South in midtown Manhattan, and just recently the company’s second Hotel Indigo in Manhattan opened — the Hotel Indigo NYC Downtown – Wall Street.
“Cities always come back; they’re resilient,” she said. “We are going to work differently, definitely. There will be fewer three-day trips and probably more day-trippers, depending upon the business need, but people are going to get back into their offices.”
For more from HNN’s interview with IHG’s Julienne Smith, including the company’s stance on deferred property-improvement plans, watch the video above.