InterContinental Hotels Group

InterContinental Hotels Group

Type	Public (LSE: IHG NYSE: IHG)
Founded	15 April 2003 Origins trace back to 1777
Headquarters	Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom
Key people	David Webster, Chairman Andrew Cosslett, Chief Executive
Industry	Travel & Leisure (Hotels)
Products	Brands include: InterContinental Crowne Plaza Hotel Indigo Staybridge Suites Holiday Inn Holiday Inn Express Candlewood Suites
Revenue	$1,854 million (2008)
Operating income	$535 million (2008)
Net income	$262 million (2008)
Website	www.ihgplc.com

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG) (LSE: IHG NYSE: IHG) is a multinational company which operates several hotel brands. It is the largest hotel company by number of rooms (621,696 as of March 2009^[1]), and is headquartered in Denham, Buckinghamshire just outside Greater London. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

History

Bass Hotels

InterContinental Hotels Group can be traced back to 1777 when William Bass established the Bass Brewery in Burton-upon-Trent.^[2] In 1876, their red triangle trademark was the first registered in the United Kingdom.^[2]

In 1989, the British Government limited the number of pubs brewers could directly own, so Bass began to grow their small line of hotels. In 1990, they purchased Holiday Inn International from Kemmons Wilson, expanding themselves into North America.^[2]

InterContinental

The InterContinental brand began in 1946 as part of Pan American Airlines under Juan Trippe, when the first hotel opened in Belem, Brazil. In 1981, holding company InterContinental Hotels Corporation was sold to UK-based company Grand Metropolitan. As GrandMet focused it core business and expanded into fast food through te purchase of Burger King, IHC was sold to fund the restructure in 1988 to Japanese based Saison Group.^[3]

IHC merger formation

In March 1998, Saison Group sold IHC to Bass.^[2]

In 2000, the company 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 PLC.^[2] IHG was created in 2003 after Six Continents PLC split into two daughter companies: Mitchells and Butlers PLC, to handle restaurant assets^[4] and IHG to focus on hotels and soft drinks.^[2] Britvic, the company's soft drinks division, was retained by IHG until December 2005, when IHG sold its interest in the company by an initial public offering.^[5]

Operations

IHG is primarily engaged in managing hotels owned by other parties and in franchising its hotel brands. That is, it sells its expertise in hotel management, systems, and marketing, while leaving investment in real property, which is far more capital intensive, requires different skills, and has a different risk profile, primarily to its partners. This is not an unusual arrangement in the hotel industry. As of 2007 it franchises over 3,200 hotels, manages over 510 and owns only 18.^[6] The owned hotels do however include many of the key properties of company's flagship InterContinental brand.

IHG currently operates and/or franchises hotels in the following countries:

An IHG hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam

InterContinental brands

Brands of IHG

An Uptown Houston Hotel Indigo.

• InterContinental
• Crowne Plaza
• Hotel Indigo
• Staybridge Suites
• Holiday Inn Holiday Inn is the No. 2 hotel brand in the world, by number of rooms.^[7]
  • Holiday Inn Select
  • Holiday Inn SunSpree Resorts
  • Holiday Inn Resorts
• Holiday Inn Express (known as Express by Holiday Inn outside North America)
• Candlewood Suites

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.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: InterContinental hotels

• Corporate website
• Customer website
• IHG corporate history
• Yahoo profile
• Priority Club Rewards
• Priority Club Rewards Credit Card UK
• A history of the Intercontinental Hotels Group by cosmopolis.ch

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