IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed another Holiday Inn hotel to its pipeline in Japan. The 114 room property in Kitakami will be rebranded following a refurbishment, opening in autumn 2025.
The hotel belongs to an affiliate of FET SYSTEM, and currently trades as Hotel City Plaza Kitakami. The upgrade will see a transformation of the building’s entrance area, creating the brand’s Open Lobby design, before relaunch as ANA Holiday Inn Iwate Kitakami.
A second collaboration
This will be the second FET SYSTEM hotel to shift to an IHG brand. Previously the two companies have collaborated on ANA Crowne Plaza Kumamoto New Sky.
“This agreement underscores our commitment to growing the Holiday Inn brand in Japan, where we’re quickly expanding our footprint in many outstanding destinations,” said Abhijay Sandilya, CEO of IHG ANA Hotels Group Japan. “This collaboration is another great example of how our IHG portfolio offers great conversion opportunities to owners, who are seeking to quickly benefit from leveraging IHG’s global scale and enterprise systems to maximise their returns.”
Across Japan, IHG co-brands its hotels under a strategic agreement signed with Japanese airline ANA in 2006. The partnership has thrived by combining the marketing strength of the airline and the hotel group, while also allowing loyalty customers of each business to share benefits.
In 2023, the two companies broadened the partnership, embarking on a wider range of marketing initiatives. Efforts were made to promote IHG hotels internationally, rather than just in Japan, linking with ANA’s flight schedule.
Currently, IHG has five hotels in the Tohoku region, representing three of its brands. These are the ANA InterContinental Appi Kogen Resort, ANA Crowne Plaza Resort Appi Kogen, ANA Holiday Inn Resort Appi Kogen, ANA Crowne Plaza Akita and ANA Holiday Inn Sendai.
Hotel groups are refocusing on the Japanese market, as it enjoys a strong rebound after the pandemic. IHG has a strong pipeline in the country, and will shortly be opening another Holiday Inn conversion, the 132 room ANA Holiday Inn Tokyo Bay. A further conversion, launching in 2025, will be ANA Holiday Inn Kyoto Gojo, which will feature 183 fully refurbished guest rooms.
Growth with Crowne Plaza
IHG is also growing its Crowne Plaza brand in Japan. Three pipeline sites are in construction or development, in Kochi, Chiryu and Hamamatsu. Meanwhile, in Osaka there are plans to refurbish the 471 room RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka, which will relaunch in 2025 as part of IHG’s Vignette Collection.
The group is also growing its luxury brands in Japan. Work is under way on InterContinental Sapporo, which will occupy the upper floors of a new multiuse development in the city, the AXA Sapporo Nakajima Park Project. The 149 room luxury hotel has a planned opening in late 2025. Also under way is Regent Kyoto, designed to sit comfortably within a mature garden setting that will deliver guests calm and extravagance.
