IHG Hotels & Resorts reported continued growth in the Americas during the first quarter of the year. The company opened 24 hotels in the region and added 65 hotels and nearly 6,000 rooms to its development pipeline. The Americas remains IHG’s largest region, with growth across all of its hotel brands.
The company said RevPAR increased across every chain scale and every IHG brand during the quarter. Growth was supported by business and group travel, along with steady leisure demand. The United States led the region’s performance, while Central America, the Caribbean, and Canada also had momentum.
Development Pipeline Expands
Mark Sergot, Chief Development Officer for the Americas at IHG, said owner confidence continued to support growth across the company’s brands. He said pipeline additions increased by more than 30 percent year over year during the first quarter.
The Essentials & Suites segment remained a major part of development activity. The Holiday Inn brand family recorded 23 hotel signings during the quarter. Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites, and Atwell Suites together accounted for more than one-third of the regional pipeline and added 22 signings combined. Atwell Suites also entered Puerto Rico for the first time. Garner, IHG’s conversion brand, recorded 14 signings and 8 openings during the quarter, including its first hotel in Mexico. Globally, Garner now has nearly 200 open and pipeline hotels.
Additionally, avid hotels continued to grow, with nearly 120 hotels in its pipeline. IHG said the brand is expected to more than double its current size.
Premium and Luxury Brands
IHG’s premium brands also expanded during the quarter. voco hotels opened new properties including voco Times Square – Broadway in New York and voco Sandpiper in Port St. Lucie, Florida, which became the brand’s first all-inclusive property. The signing of voco Honolulu marked the brand’s first project in Hawaii.
In the Luxury & Lifestyle segment, IHG opened four new properties during the quarter. Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants opened hotels in New York City, Scottsdale, Arizona, and Pacific Grove, California. Hotel Indigo Turks & Caicos Grace Bay became the first IHG-branded property on the island. The company said InterContinental and Kimpton hotels are expected to follow there in the future.
IHG also signed a new Six Senses resort and residences project in Utah called Six Senses Camp Korongo.
At the end of the quarter, IHG’s Americas system included more than 4,600 open hotels and a pipeline of nearly 1,100 additional properties.
