IHG InterContinental Hotels Group Franchise Opportunities - History

InterContinental Hotels was founded in 1946 as a subsidiary of Pan Am Airways, in a bid to marry the glamour of mid-20th century air travel with correspondingly luxurious accommodations in major destination cities.

Founder Juan Trippe sold the hotel chain in the early 1980s to Grand Metropolitan, which later sold it to Saison Group, a Japanese-based company, in 1988. IHG eventually became an independent global hospitality company with its headquarters located in Buckinghamshire, England.

The power of the InterContinental brand and the quality of the locations gives the chain the ability to command lofty reservation prices despite a relatively low cost to run. And awards like World’s Leading Hotel Brand, which InterContinental has been named for close to a decade consecutively, continue to bolster the brand. And adding to the franchise’s mystique are iconic InterContinental Hotels & Resorts properties like the InterContinental London Park Lane, the InterContinental Porto (an 18th-century palace), and Washington, D.C.’s Willard InterContinental. 

Today, the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts footprint and development pipeline spans some 500 hotels and 150,000 rooms across over 60 countries (inclusive of InterContinental Hotels & Resorts locations only and not including locations of brands in the broader IHG InterContinental Hotels umbrella).

What Does An InterContinental Hotels & Resorts Franchise Cost?

Initial Investment

The investment required to open an InterContinental Hotels & Resorts franchise location ranges from $70,436,315 to $102,938,610, including a $75,000 upfront fee.

Ongoing Royalties

InterContinental franchisees must pay a monthly 5% royalty fee on gross room revenue. There are additional ongoing fees for brand marketing programs, technology, and other items.

InterContinental Hotels & Resorts Franchise System Size and Composition

As of year-end 2018, there were approximately 196 active locations of InterContinental Hotels & Resorts. Of those, around 6 were company owned, 19 were U.S.-based franchised hotels, and approximately 171 were franchised internationally. Including hotels in the brand's development pipeline increases that unit footprint to approximately 500 hotels worldwide. Altogether, these locations generate an estimated $3.1 billion in annual sales.

IHG InterContinental Hotels Group Franchise System Size and Composition

The parent company, IHG InterContinental Hotels Group, franchises, leases, manages, or owns over 5,600 hotels (accounting for some 836,000 guest rooms) across over 100 countries, with an additional 1,000 hotels in development. IHG InterContinental continues to grow through a combination of organic expansion as well as through the very active acquisition of complementary hotel chains. Recent IHG acquisitions have included Regent Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurants, and Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas. 

The brands that makeup IHG's portfolio include:

• InterContinental Hotels & Resorts
• Atwell Suites
• Crowne Plaza
• Regent Hotels & Resorts
• Kimpton Hotel & Restaurants
• Hotel Indigo
• EVEN Hotels
• HUALUXE Hotels & Resorts
• voco Hotels
• Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express
• Holiday Inn Club Vacations
• Holiday Inn Resort
• avid hotels
• Staybridge Suites
• Candlewood Suites
• Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas

IHG InterContinental Hotels Franchsie Group - Other Information

When teaming with IHG: InterContinental Hotels Group, franchisees select a specific hotel brand that IHG owns to open and work with.

IHG touts its rewards program, IHG Rewards Club, as the world’s first and largest global hotel loyalty program, boasting more than 100 million members worldwide.