BERLIN—The outgoing president and chief executive of IHG Hotels & Resorts \ said he still sees brand growth opportunities even following multiple additions to its portfolio in recent years.
“There’s always more to do … No company is ever complete,” Keith Barr told delegates attending the International Hospitality Investment Forum at the InterContinental Berlin earlier this week.
Barr said he saw opportunities to add to IHG’s 18-strong brand portfolio from organic launches, to partnerships similar to last year’s licensing deal with Iberostar Hotels and Resorts, as well as M&A activity, and that further opportunities would emerge as brands, businesses and the real estate market evolves.
“Of the big players we have the fewest brands, so we have the biggest opportunity to grow,” he said.
Under his leadership, IHG’s brand family has grown to include Avid, Atwell Suites, Voco, Vignette Collection and Six Senses.
“I thought about it like a ladder. We had clear missing rungs which was telling our owners and guests to do business and stay with a competitor… when you’ve got missing rungs, you’re going to lose that customer as they progress,” he said.
In conversation with Alexi Khajavi, president of hospitality and travel at Questex (parent company of both Hotel Management and Hospitality Investor), Barr also suggested there were opportunities for the sector in hotel-level technology: “Prop tech should be cloud tech. We should have almost nothing at property level,” he said.
Meanwhile, as customer satisfaction levels across the industry fall due to a lack of investment during COVID-19, the priority for IHG has been balancing owners’ ROI needs with customer experience expectations. One of the initiatives to support owners Barr is most proud of, he said, was IHG’s procurement function. The group has also lowered cost to build by 3-5 percent through efficiencies.
The CEO added that he foresaw 2023 being “a really good year for travel,” with low supply growth alongside strong demand, customers spending their money on services rather than goods, and with the recovery of the Chinese market, including outbound travel once airlift returns.
“There’s really no signs of any cracks whatsoever,” he said.
Barr announced earlier this month he would be stepping down at the end of June to return to the U.S. with his family, having worked for the company for 30 years including the last six as CEO. He will be replaced by Elie Maalouf, who has led IHG’s Americas business as regional CEO for the past eight years.
The 53-year-old confirmed that he was not leaving for another role elsewhere but that it was “the right time to hand over the reins.”
“I just knew it was time to reinvent myself and it was right for my family,” added Barr.
IHG, which is based in the U.K., has a global portfolio of 914,928 rooms under brands such as Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Regent and InterContinental. In its first quarter trading update, average daily rate for the company was up 11 percent compared to the first quarter of 2022 and 10 percent on 2019. First quarter group RevPAR, meanwhile, was up 33 percent on last year.
A version of this story ran on Hotel Management's sister site Hospitality Investor.