Demand for travel remains high globally, prompting Holiday Inn, InterContinental and Kimpton hotels owner IHG Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: IHG) to open nearly 200 hotels.
The hotel company launched the opening of 197 hotels during the first half of 2026, up 8% year over year, excluding IHG’s 2025 acquisition of the Ruby brand.
IHG’s pipeline increased by 2,400 hotels with growth in all three regions and 352 signings in total, representing 8% growth year-on-year. The company has a total of 7,100 hotels.
Room revenue or RevPAR, a metric for the hotel industry, grew by 5.4% in the Americas year over year in the second quarter of 2026 after reporting a 3.6% gain during the first quarter due to a “stronger U.S. economy” and fans attending FIFA World Cup games, according to the company.
The conflict occurring in the Middle East has impacted hotel stays slightly since global room revenue rose by 3.5% after increasing by 4.4% in the first quarter.
In the Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia (EMEAA) region, room revenue rose by 3% in the first half of 2026. After growth of 5.6% in the first quarter, the second quarter reported only an increase of 0.6%, “reflecting the well-documented impact of the conflict in the Middle East,” which represents 5% of IHG globally or just under 20% of the EMEAA region declined by 19% in the quarter, said CFO Michael Glover.
The rest of EMEAA increased by 4% in the second quarter, including growth of 3% in the U.K., 2.3% in continental Europe, and 6% in East Asia and Pacific.
“The breadth and diversification of the EMEAA portfolio therefore continues to be a significant strength,” he said. “In greater China, RevPAR increased 3.1% in the first half.”
IHG has 39 hotels operating across eight brands in the UAE and a pipeline of 110 hotels that are scheduled to open within the next three to five years. In Saudi Arabia, IHG has 48 open hotels and 62 hotels in the pipeline.
“Our diverse global footprint and better-than-expected demand in most markets around the world delivered strong RevPAR growth of +4.1% in the first six months of 2026,” said IHG Hotels & Resorts CEO Elie Maalouf. “Trading in the U.S. accelerated in the second quarter, growth in greater China continued and a good performance elsewhere in our EMEAA region helped offset challenges in the Middle East.”
IHG owns 21 hotel brands, including more expensive brands such as its InterContinental, Kimpton and Crowne Plaza hotels and its more budget-friendly brands such as Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Resort and its all suite options like Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites and Atwell Suites.
The company reported operating profits from reportable segments increased by 10% in the first half of the year to $665 million while revenue from reportable segments grew by 7% to $1.3 billion. Shares of IHG rose by 33% during the past year.
Despite some economic roadblocks as interest rates have moved higher, travelers remain resilient and continue to head to their vacation destinations. Both leisure and business travelers continued to book trips and meetings during the second quarter. Travel spending increased by 5.8% to reach in July and 4.3% higher year-to-date, according to the Sept. 2 report by the U.S. Travel Association.
Room demand rose 2.8% in July and is 2% higher year to date. Revenue per available room grew 8.2% in the U.S. with the largest gain of 14.8% at urban hotels and resort locations at 5.5%.
“Hotel demand and group travel led that growth, while air passenger volume and overseas arrivals came in below last year and travel price rose more slowly than in June,” the report said. “Room demand nonetheless grew, which alongside the decline in overseas arrivals suggests domestic travelers accounted for the increase.”
Adding new brands
IHG is a hotel company with one of the “industry’s strongest brand intangible assets—one source of its wide moat—and forecast it will expand its room share during the next decade,” wrote Dan Wasiolek, a senior equity analyst for Morningstar. “Renovated and newer brands focused on the attractive midscale and extended-stay segments as well as a loyalty program of more than 160 million members will aid this growth. Also, the company holds a strong presence in international markets, with non-Americas regions constituting 48% of total rooms in 2025.”
One strategy that IHG Hotels & Resorts executives are working on is increasing the number of brands, expanding in key geographic markets and developing its technology. Over the summer IHG launched its own app in ChatGPT so that potential customers could receive hotel information and rates and connect them to its reservation channels and added a conversational search tool that is AI-powered for its website and mobile app.
IHG’s portfolio has expanded from 10 brands in 2015 to 21 brands over the past 11 years with 99% of its rooms franchised or managed.
“We can now serve more guests across more price points and stay occasions and more destinations, from remote resorts to urban hotels and major gateway cities, while attracting more owners and property types to our system,” Maalouf said. “This broader portfolio is also creating a larger and more diversified revenue mix.”
Expanding into luxury and lifestyle brands has been a main driver of growth for the company, he said. Since 2014, the total gross revenue (TGR) generated by the hotels grew from $23 billion to $37 billion.
“This higher fee per key segment has doubled from five billion of TGR in 2014 to 10 billion today,” he added. “Strong growth in suites and the introduction of exclusive partners have further diversified the mix alongside the continued strength and growth of our essentials and premium brands.”
While IHG’s established brands are accounting for around two-thirds of openings and signings, its new brands are catching up and account for one-third of development activity.
One new brand, Regent, continues to “build strong momentum and is resonating with guests and industry followers in upper luxury,” Maalouf said.
When IHG acquired the first 51% stake in Regent in 2018, it had nine open and pipeline hotels. Now there are 25 hotels, including flagship properties in each region, in Hong Kong, Cannes, and Santa Monica. Management is working on financing to acquire the remaining stake and region.
Ruby, a premium urban lifestyle brand that was acquired in 2025, has already grown from 30 open and pipeline hotels at acquisition last year to 42 hotels currently.
“Ruby’s distinctive urban micro-format and franchise-friendly model give us significant opportunities to expand beyond its strong European base,” he said. “We have already signed the first two US hotels in New York and Chicago, and owner interest is strong as Ruby becomes franchise-ready across East Asia and Pacific.”
The “fastest ever scaling of a brand globally,” Garner, opened an additional 23 hotels in the first half of this year and signed another 54 into the pipeline, including more development activity across the U.S. and Japan and the first opening in China. The brand has already reached 17 countries across open and pipeline hotels less than three years since its launch.
IHG’s expansion into more hotel brands and countries will likely attract more customers as the demand for travel continues to remain high.
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