News for the Hospitality Executive |
Shanghai, 26 May, 2011 – IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group), the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms, signed a strategic cooperation and three-brand, six-hotel management contract with Poly Real Estate (Group) Co., Ltd. today, making it one of IHG’s largest owners in China. This strategic cooperation will add a total of 1,773 hotel rooms to IHG’s Greater China pipeline, which is already the largest among all the international hotel groups. It will also strengthen IHG’s leadership in China’s emerging second and third tier cities and resort areas, where there are huge potential for future development. The six new strategically located hotels in Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces consist of three InterContinental hotels, two Crowne Plaza hotels and one Holiday Inn hotel. “I truly believe that the reason we’ve gained our owners’ trust and confidence in China is because they love our brands, trust our extensive network, and more importantly appreciate the financial returns we have been delivering for almost three decades,” said Keith Barr, chief executive officer, IHG Greater China. “And, one of our strategies to continue and even accelerate our quality growth in China is to partner with large scale and influential real estate developers like Poly Real Estate.” Poly Real Estate is China’s leading state-owned real estate company, with 119 subsidiaries spreading across 35 cities nationwide. IHG was the very first international hotel group and so far the only one to manage Poly Real Estate’s hotels. This new contract between the two industries leaders has raised Poly Real Estate’s number of IHG-managed hotels from three to nine. Song Guangju, chairwoman of the board, Poly Real Estate (Group) Co., Ltd, said: “Ever since our first cooperation with IHG in 2007, our partnership has proven to be very successful. We are glad to have joined with IHG to develop hotels in China’s emerging markets. We have great confidence in IHG’s competitive advantages, and value their brands and management expertise to consistently deliver the best service. ” The local hotel market will enjoy huge room growth in the coming years as the number of Chinese domestic tourists travelling is expected to grow substantially due to China’s robust economic growth and increasing urbanization. All this will lead to an increased demand for leisure travel, particularly in resort areas. According to statistics, every one in four international travelers will be Chinese in the next ten years. The six new signed hotels are:
About IHG InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global company operating seven well-known hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites® . IHG also manages Priority Club® Rewards, the world’s first and largest hotel loyalty programme with 58 million members worldwide. IHG is the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms and IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns, through various subsidiaries, a portfolio of over 4,400 hotels and more than 652,000 guest rooms in 100 countries and territories around the world. IHG has more than 1,200 hotels in its development pipeline and expects to recruit around 160,000 people worldwide over the next few years. InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group’s holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales. IHG offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at http://www.ihg.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards programme at www.priorityclub.com. For our latest news visit www.ihg.com/media, Twitter www.twitter.com/ihgplc or YouTube http://www.youtube.com/ihgplc |
Contact: Sharona Tao IHG Tel: +86 21 2893 3309 Fax: +86 21 2893 3399 [email protected] |