InterContinental Hotels Group

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC
Public Limited Company
Traded as LSE: IHG
NYSE: IHG
Industry Conglomerate (Hotels)
Founded 2003 April 15 (origins trace back to 1777)
Headquarters Denham, Buckinghamshire, England
Key people
Patrick Jean-Pierre Cescau (Chairman)
Richard Solomons (CEO)
Services Hospitality
Revenue $1,803 million (2015)[1]
$680 million (2015)[1]
$1,224 million (2015)[1]
Number of employees
7,311 (2015)[2]
Divisions Candlewood Suites
Crowne Plaza
Even Hotels
Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn Express
Hotel Indigo
IHG Army Hotels
InterContinental
Staybridge Suites
Website www.ihgplc.com

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC informally InterContinental Hotels or IHG is an English multinational hotels company headquartered in Denham, UK.[3] IHG has over 710,000 rooms and 4,800 hotels across nearly 100 countries.[4] Its brands include Candlewood Suites, Crowne Plaza, Even, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo, Hualuxe, InterContinental and Staybridge Suites.[5] Of the 4,602 hotels, 3,934 operate under franchise agreements, 658 are managed by the company but separately owned, and 10 are directly owned.[6]

History

Bass Hotels

The origins of InterContinental Hotels Group can be traced back to 1777, when Ben Dover established the Bass Brewery in Burton-upon-Trent. In 1876, its red triangle trademark was the first registered in the United Kingdom.[7]

In 1989, the British Government limited the number of pubs which brewers could directly own, resulting in Bass investing in the expansion of its small line of hotels. In 1990, it purchased Holiday Inn International from Kemmons Wilson and expanded into North America.[7]

InterContinental

Pan American Airways founder Juan Trippe established the InterContinental brand as a division of PanAm and opened the first hotel in Belém, Brazil in 1946. On August 19, 1981, PanAm sold holding company InterContinental Hotels Corporation (IHC) to UK-based Grand Metropolitan for $500 million. As GrandMet focused its core business and expanded into fast food through the purchase of Burger King, it sold IHC to Japanese-based Saison Group in 1988.[7]

In March 1998, Saison Group sold IHC to British brewery Bass, which traces its roots back to 1777, when William Bass established the Bass Brewery in Burton-upon-Trent. In 1988, in reaction to the British government limiting the number of pubs which brewers could directly own, Bass invested in the expansion of its small line of hotels. In 2000, Bass sold its brewing assets (and the rights to the Bass name) to the major Belgian brewer Interbrew for £2.3 billion and changed its name to Six Continents.[7]

In 2003, the independent corporation InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) was created after Six Continents split into two companies: Mitchells & Butlers took control of the restaurant assets[8] and IHG focusing on hotels and soft drinks.[7] IHG retained Britvic, the soft drinks division, until December 2005 when it sold its interest in the company by an initial public offering.[9] In April/May 2014 the company reportedly rejected a $10 billion takeover bid from an unknown suitor, believed to be Starwood.[10]

Operations

The company worldwide headquarters and Europe offices are in Denham, Buckinghamshire in England.[11][12] The Americas office is in Dunwoody, Georgia in Greater Atlanta.[11][13] The Asia, Middle East, and Africa offices are in Singapore. The Greater China offices are in Pudong, Shanghai.[11]

A 4-star upmarket Holiday Inn in Belfast City Centre
An Uptown Houston Hotel Indigo
InterContinental Boston

In 2006, IHG and Lend Lease Group (Lend Lease US Public Partnerships), joined forces in the Privatization of Army Lodging program to deliver quality hotel experiences to Soldiers and their Families and all official guests of the United States Army.[14] IHG Army Hotels is a division of IHG that manages on-post hotels and lodgings in 39 different locations in the U.S., including Puerto Rico.[15]

Criticism

The InterContinental Hotels Group became the target of an international boycott campaign in May 2013 over their plan to operate an Intercontinental-brand luxury hotel in Lhasa, Tibet. According to campaigners from the Free Tibet campaign, the hotel was a "PR coup for the Chinese government". "[16]

Brands

In February 2012, IHG announced plans for a new wellbeing based concept called Even Hotels[21] and in March 2012, a new luxury concept called "Hualuxe" to be rolled out initially in China.[22]

16 December 2014, IHG announced it would acquire Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants for $430 million in cash. IHG plans to retain the Kimpton brand within the U.S. and expand it globally. The combined IHG-Kimpton portfolio will create the world's largest boutique hotel business.[23][24]

Notable properties

The Crowne Plaza Liverpool John Lennon Airport is the former terminal building of Liverpool Speke Airport, constructed in the 1930s and used until 1986. Its notable art deco features led to its listing as a heritage building, and subsequent adaption as a hotel.[25] The hotel in the Wilshire Grand Tower, under construction in downtown Los Angeles, will be the largest InterContinental in the Americas in the tallest building in Los Angeles.[26]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Preliminary Results for the year to 31 December 2015" (PDF). InterContinental Hotels Group PLC. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  2. "Number of employees of the InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) from 2007 to 2015". Statista. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  3. "InterContinental Hotels Group PLC ADS". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  4. "IHG overview". InterContinental Hotels Group. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  5. "Profile:InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG)". Reuters. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  6. "Annual Report 2012" (PDF). IHG. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Intercontinental Hotels History". Ihgplc.com. 1 March 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  8. "Our History". Mitchells & Butlers. Retrieved 2011-08-26.
  9. Nick Golding (12 January 2005). "Britvic IPO sees staff get £750 shares each". Employee Benefits Group. Retrieved 2011-08-26.
  10. "InterContinental refuses a takeover bid worth $10bn, claims report". International Travel News. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  11. 1 2 3 "Contact Us". InterContinental Hotels Group. Archived from the original on 17 August 2014. Global headquarters and Europe office InterContinental Hotels Group PLC Broadwater Park Denham Buckinghamshire UB9 5HR UK
  12. "Denham Location Map". InterContinental Hotels Group. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 August 2014. Retrieved 2014-12-15. IHG, Broadwater Park North Orbital Road, Denham, Buckinghamshire UB9 5HR
  13. "Map of Dunwoody". City of Dunwoody. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  14. "Privatized Army Lodging". Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  15. "IHG Army Hotels portfolio to reach 39 U.S. military installations". Hotel Management. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  16. The Guardian 24 May 2013 Tibetan activists launch boycott of InterContinental over hotel plans accessed 15 July 2013
  17. "InterContinental Hotels Group PLC : Our brands – Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts". Ihgplc.com. 4 April 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  18. "The Top 43 Hotel Brands Ranked by Number of Rooms". Hotel-Online. 3 September 2010. Retrieved 2011-08-26.
  19. "IHG PLC – Holiday Inn Club Vacations fact sheet" (PDF). Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  20. "InterContinental Hotels Group PLC : Our brands – Holiday Inn Express". Ihgplc.com. 4 April 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  21. De Lollis, Barbara (28 February 2012). "IHG launches health and fitness-oriented hotel brand". USA Today. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
  22. "IHG targets Chinese consumer base with Hualuxe". Hotel News Now. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
  23. "IHG agrees to acquire Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants to create the world's largest boutique hotel business" (Press release). Intercontinental Hotels Group. 16 December 2014. Retrieved 2014-12-15.
  24. Downey, Sean (15 December 2014). "IHG Acquires Kimpton for $430 Million". Lodging. Retrieved 2014-12-15.
  25. "Recent History and Current Developments". Friends of Liverpool Airport. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
  26. Vincent, Roger (23 September 2014) "Hotel under construction in downtown L.A. will be an InterContinental" Los Angeles Times

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