InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) celebrated its highest number of openings in Europe for four years, opening 39 hotels throughout the region in 2012. It also reported a successful year for hotel signings, with the company adding a further 48 hotels, 7,012 rooms, to its European pipeline.
IHG’s Chief Development Officer for Europe, Robert Shepherd, said the openings and signings were a testament to the strength of IHG’s brands and reflected the company’s successful growth strategy for Europe.
“Europe is IHG’s second largest region and we continue to see strong growth opportunities here. In 2012, our strategy was focused on driving scale in key markets – UK, Germany and Russia – which proved highly successful, as our additions to pipeline were up 22 per cent on 2011 and we opened the highest number of hotels for four years. We’ll continue to expand in 2013, not only in these markets but in key cities throughout the region as well.”
The 7,012 rooms signed in Europe in 2012 are spread across the UK, Germany, Russia, France, Turkey, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Israel and Algeria. Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express continue to lead the growth in Europe, accounting for over 70 per cent of 2012 signings. IHG’s boutique brand Hotel Indigo also grew, with 6 signings throughout the region.