GOSTELOW REPORT—”After adding more brands I am now focused on execution,” says InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) CEO Keith Barr. To him, execution obviously means not only even better relationships with owners but also increasing pleasure-points to guests. Last Friday, for instance, IHG announced a trial of circadian lighting to help better sleep, recognition of a study commissioned by IHG that found 80% of travelers have trouble sleeping when away from home.
IHG’s partnership with an LED lighting solutions provider is being trialed at Crowne Plaza Atlanta Airport. Special lights in guest rooms allow access to warm spectrums at night that hopefully induce sleep, while by day the lighting shifts to enhance alertness and focus.
Lighting is unusually important to this boss, by the way: After a guest reported that more lighting would be appreciated above the desk in Voco St. David’s Hotel in the Welsh capital of Cardiff, messages from the top meant better lighting was being trialed within 48 hours.
Barr oversees a publicly quoted company with 5,603 open hotels (836,541 rooms, and over 80% franchised). For the record, his current brands are Regent, InterContinental, Kimpton, Indigo, Even, Hualuxe, Crowne Plaza, Voco, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, Holiday Inn Resort, Avid, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. Six Senses is not included in the list as although the deal had closed by February 13, 2019, IHG’s latest public disclosure was to update to the end of 2018.
The pipeline numbers almost 1,900 properties, with the Holiday Inn brands making up almost 50% of all 2018 signings. Other notable achievements over the last few months include the opening of the 200th InterContinental and the 100th Hotel Indigo.
“When I took over as CEO in July 2017 I looked at white spaces in the portfolio. I knew from owners that they could clearly distinguish between our existing brands, and that was encouraging,” Barr says.
Two of the fledglings are home-grown. Avid is a new mainstream brand with a fair price for such basics as enhanced WiFi, sleep and black-out drapes, included grab-and-go breakfast and coffee, and a pay-for 24/7 marketplace. The brand launched in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and its over 170 signings, in the USA plus Canada, Mexico and Germany, was highlighted at the signing of, at IHIF in Berlin 10 days ago, Sirius Hospitality Holding GmbH’s forthcoming Frankfurt Airport development.
Voco, also an IHG concept launched June 2018, is upscale and reliably different. It already has three open hotels, in the U.K. and Australia. This brand has a strong visual individualism and a sense of quirky fun (someone who stayed in a Voco had thoughts of Pottery Barn, with color, and tweed fabrics, and easy-eat unpretentious food, and a surprising number of 35-to-45-age group business guests as well as sports and entertainment names who have willingly moved over from more traditional brands).
Barr looks you straight in the eye as he talks about all his brands. “Regent, led by the compact team that any luxury product requires, must be brought back to its former glory (we will re-awaken its latent brand equity, but only in A-level locations with the best partners)”. Both Kimpton, which now has assured presence in 14 countries, and Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas will continue to be run independently, with support from IHG.
“Kimpton’s CEO Mike DeFrino and his counterpart at Six Senses, Neil Jacobs, report to me directly,” Barr explained, adding that he had been pursuing Six Senses for two years. “Their focus on wellness is the best in the industry, and I want it to stay something special. We can accelerate their growth and they will make us, IHG, an even better company.”
Jacobs, speaking two days ago, said already he “finds all the folks at IHG very friendly and respectful. I speak to Keith Barr every two weeks or as needed.”
The Barr family is going to Six Senses Douro Valley, in Portugal, shortly. “One of my team went there and was amazed that its sustainability meant the hiking guide was carrying heavy glass water bottles as he led a group up steep hills,” he said, in awe.
Barr is an authentic leader. He still smiles when he preaches that hotel leaders have the opportunity to promote the industry, letting governments know its importance. “We are losing talent because the hotel industry is not suitably promoting itself. There is so much bad news out there that, with over 400,000 team members worldwide at IHG, we know the industry has the opportunity to help people lead better lives.”