IHG Has Largest Midscale Pipeline in Canada
Holiday Inn family of brands leads Canada's pipeline with more than 50 hotels
ATLANTA, GA, July 8, 2008. IHG's (InterContinental Hotels Group) [Lon: IHG; NYSE: IHG (ADRs)] Holiday Inn family of brands has the largest pipeline of all midscale brands in Canada, with more than 50 hotels.
There are currently 114 hotels (16,737 rooms) in the Holiday Inn family of brands open in Canada, with 64 Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts properties (11,666 rooms) and 50 Holiday Inn Express hotels (5,071 rooms). The Canadian pipeline stands at an impressive 52 hotels (5,350 rooms) for the Holiday Inn brands, with 42 (4,249 rooms) of those to be flagged as Holiday Inn Express.
Future locations of Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels in Canada include major markets like Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal. Growth is also strong in secondary markets such as Stellarton and Truro, Nova Scotia; Prince Albert, Saskatchewan; and Slave Lake, Alberta.
"As one of only two countries to currently have hotels open across all seven IHG brands, we consider Canada to have tremendous potential for growth, especially with our Holiday Inn brands," said Gopal Rao, regional vice president, Sales & Marketing, Canada, IHG. "With the $1 billion Holiday Inn global brand relaunch currently underway, these hotels will be key to introducing guests to the new look and feel of today's Holiday Inn."
The Holiday Inn properties in the Canadian pipeline will be among the first in the world to showcase the new Holiday Inn sign, which is the seal of approval that a hotel exemplifies the standards of the relaunch program. First announced in 2007, the relaunch program was established to create a more contemporary brand image, increase quality and drive consistency in the brand's nearly 3,200 hotels around the world.
Since announcing the global relaunch, IHG has signed more than 250 new Holiday Inn development deals. These new deals bring the total Holiday Inn pipeline to more than 1,100 hotels globally and 904 in the Americas, which is a 20-year high for the brand. Holiday Inn Express is also the fastest growing hotel brand in the industry, opening on average two hotels a week.
Across all seven brands, IHG has 132 hotels (20,817 rooms) open in Canada and a record total of 63 hotels (7,013 rooms) in the pipeline.
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) [LON: IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is one of the world's largest hotel groups by number of rooms. IHG owns, manages, leases or franchises, through various subsidiaries, almost 4,000 hotels and more than 590,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world The Group owns a portfolio of well recognized and respected hotel brands including InterContinental(R) Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza(R) Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn(R) Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express(R), Staybridge Suites(R), Candlewood Suites(R) and Hotel Indigo(R), and also manages the world's largest hotel loyalty program, Priority Club(R) Rewards with over 37 million members worldwide.
IHG pioneered the travel industry's first collaborative response to environmental issues as founder of the International Hotels and Environment Initiative (IHEI). The environment and local communities remain at the heart of IHG's global corporate responsibility focus. We're the first major hotel group to have measured our environmental and carbon footprints and we're in the process of setting reduction targets.
With more than 1,600 hotels in its development pipeline, IHG needs to find around 150,000 people over the next few years to meet its global expansion plans.
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 www.ihg.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards program at www.priorityclub.com. For the latest news from IHG, visit our online Press Office at www.ihg.com/media.
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