Las Vegas - Having recently completed its $1 billion relaunch of the Holiday Inn brand, InterContinental Hotels Group is turning its attention to its
upscale Crowne Plaza brand. Announced here at the IHG Americas Investors and
Leadership Conference, the plan during the next several years calls for
cleaning up existing Crowne Plaza properties, developing new ones and crafting
a new strategy for amenities and features.
The freshening of
existing properties will extend through next year and includes new bedding and
upgrades to fitness centers and food and beverage offerings—improvements hotels
can undertake "without a lot of cost," according to Crowne Plaza vice
president of global brand management Janis Cannon.
IHG's next step would be
to increase Crowne Plaza's presence in gateway and resort markets, a project
expected to last through 2013. The company then plans to develop and implement through
2015 "brand hallmarks" to differentiate Crowne Plaza from other
upscale hotel brands.
In the meantime, IHG aims
to increase business at Crowne Plaza properties, an effort aided by the recent
hiring of eight above-property salespersons dedicated to the brand, according
to Gina LaBarre, IHG vice president of brand delivery for the Americas.
IHG CEO Richard Solomons
acknowledged that the project could result in some current Crowne Plaza
properties losing their brand status. "We as a company are prepared to
lose those hotels who cannot or will not take this journey with us," he said,
"and we're prepared to take the financial hit that will result from losing
those hotels, just as we did with Holiday Inn."