IHG to Create Another Soft Brand as Its Pipeline Shows ‘Strongest Ever Performance’
Photo Credit: A room in IHG's Hotel Alexandra Rome, Vignette Collection. IHG
Skift Take
IHG’s decision to debut its new soft brand outside of the Americas says a lot about its strategic thinking.
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) plans to launch a new soft brand, targeting upscale to upper-upscale hotels across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa (EMEAA).
“We’re excited to announce the upcoming launch of a new collection brand in the coming months,” CEO Elie Maalouf said on Thursday’s earnings call. “It will initially focus on our EMEAA region, where there is a significant proportion of high-quality hotels with their own unique identity.”
IHG already operates Vignette Collection as a soft brand, while voco and Garner are conversion-focused hard brands with more defined standards. The company said the new offering will complement those brands.
Maalouf said the brand is being designed with a wide range of property types in mind. “Please do not conclude that it would not be compatible with resorts,” he told analysts. “We typically don’t b
