Third quarter results from IHG indicated that the company out performed the competition in all markets and segments, according to JOHN BAMSEY, chief operating officer, IHG Middle East and Africa.
“It is the recognition of our brands globally, our size and ambitious projects in the pipeline which puts us in a great position to continuously outperform the industry.”
IHG recorded a 1.56 percent increase in RevPAR globally even though there was a sharp decline across the global hotel market in October.
“We are now in a more challenging trading environment – RevPAR declined 4.5 per cent in October, the first decline for us in five years,” said Bamsey.
“In the Middle East itself, we continued our strong performance with a growing revPAR of 24 per cent in Q3 and we look forward to a continuing trend in 2009.”
He agreed that tourism in most countries of the Middle East had remained relatively steady despite the global financial crisis. Their research had shown that the Middle East market has a gap for high-quality, internationally branded hotels which place an emphasis on quality at great value for money.
“By establishing our limited service brand Holiday Inn Express in the region, we are meeting that need, catering to travellers looking for comfort and convenience at a great price,” he said.
He believed that large global companies were increasing their purchasing power by reducing their hotel suppliers, wanting companies that can deliver a range of price options in locations around the world. “Our global spread of brands means we are well placed to deliver this.”
Staffing was perhaps the greatest challenge facing the group. “At IHG we have worked hard over the last few years to attract and retain high quality staff. I am proud to say that we have significantly increased our employee base, in line with new hotel openings. These employees have been sourced both locally and internationally, ensuring our properties have the right mix of cultures to suit our guests’ needs.”
“We take every measure to ensure that our staff is provided with the best possible training to help them meet and exceed their career goals.”
IHG arranges training and development programmes for all employees to help build and maintain a strong common culture.
To improve occupancies in 2009, the group will focus on offering greater service and value to guests, especially for loyal customers who are Priority Club Rewards members.
“Given our size and scale, we do not have to resort to pure discounting and our focus is to ensure our guests receive great value for their money when they stay at all of our hotels,” said Bamsey.
He said that over the next few years the group expected to see branded hotels continue to grow at three times the rate of non-branded hotels (including a high number of conversions) as hotels require the backing of a large company to stay competitive.