InterContinental Hotels Group might be home to one of the best-known names in luxury, but the company clearly thinks it is not enough.
Last week in its full-year results announcement, IHG made a commitment to expand the luxury side of its business by establishing a new unit and most intriguingly by stating it wanted to buy one or two new brands.
At the moment, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts is out on its own, unless you want to include Kimpton (nice try IHG), so it could do with some high-end company.
IHG isn’t in the market for a big deal, which sort of rules out something like Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, and ideally is looking for something small and asset-light to incubate.
We’re not exactly sure what brands IHG has in mind, but if any of you do, please get in touch.
— Patrick Whyte, Europe Editor
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Airbnb Plus and Everything CEO Brian Chesky Just Announced: To be honest, we weren’t very surprised by Thursday’s launches. In fact, we wondered why they haven’t been launched sooner. But for the most part, all of them certainly seem in step with Airbnb’s plans for being much more than just about any other travel brand or company out there.
United Reboots Its Polaris Business Class With a Focus on Consistency: The airline overpromised with its Polaris business class. Instead of rethinking business class, it should have focused on providing a simple and consistent product.
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Skift Europe Editor Patrick Whyte [pw@skift.com] curates the New Luxury newsletter. Skift emails the newsletter every Tuesday.
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