BERLIN — Acquiring Ruby Hotels earlier this year has been a bit of a milestone for IHG Hotels & Resorts.
Karin Sheppard, senior vice president and managing director for Europe at IHG Hotels & Resorts, said IHG was exploring all of its options before it acquired Ruby Hotels in February, making Ruby IHG’s 20th brand.
“The space for urban lifestyle, some people call it urban micro, is one we’ve been watching closely. … Do we build a brand? Do we acquire a brand? And we came across Ruby, and it is just such a wonderful brand. Really well thought through,” she said during an interview at the International Hospitality Investment Forum EMEA.
Ruby's founder Michael Struck will remain at the brand as a partner of IHG. Sheppard added IHG will initially scale the brand to 120 hotels within 10 years, and with more to come after that.
IHG has a similar strategy to scale its Garner brand — which it launched in the U.S. — across Europe.
Sheppard said Garner “meets the demand in the midscale segment, particularly for conversions. … We really needed a brand that could take us into more places.”
In terms of hotel demand trends, Sheppard is bullish for meetings, events and conferences building up to yet higher levels following a strong 2024.
“In our wider Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia region last year, business [travel] grew by 6%, groups and meetings by 9%,” she said, adding those numbers jumped from a lower base than did leisure and business individual but were nonetheless encouraging.
For more of Sheppard’s insight and comments, watch the video interview above.