Why the Best Hedge Against Global Chaos Is a Very Large Hotel Company
Photo Credit: IHG CEO Elie Maalouf speaking at IHIF EMEA in Berlin. IHIF EMEA 2026 / Simon Callaghan Photography.
Skift Take
IHG’s view is that volatility is now a constant, but that large, diversified hotel groups are still positioned to benefit, so long as travel demand stays strong.
Global hotel groups have to get used to uncertainty, IHG CEO Elie Maalouf has said. Speaking at IHIF in Berlin, Maalouf explained that, while the source of uncertainty keeps changing, the broader impacts on operators remain consistent.
“Uncertainty is the only certainty we have,” he said. “Every year, I am unsure what the uncertainty will be, but it happens.”
Maalouf added that “Last year it was tariffs, this year, conflict in the Middle East,” but although the two looked different, in any case, hotels need to stay consistent amid chaos by looking at scale, segment breadth, and
