InterContinental Hotels Group, the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms, signed a strategic cooperation and three-brand, six-hotel management contract with Poly Real Estate (Group) Co., Ltd. today, making it one of IHG’s largest owners in China.

This strategic cooperation will add a total of 1,773 hotel rooms to IHG’s Greater China pipeline, which is already the largest among all the international hotel groups. It will also strengthen IHG’s leadership in China’s emerging second and third tier cities and resort areas, where there are huge potential for future development. The six new strategically located hotels in Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces consist of three InterContinental hotels, two Crowne Plaza hotels and one Holiday Inn hotel.
“I truly believe that the reason we’ve gained our owners’ trust and confidence in China is because they love our brands, trust our extensive network, and more importantly appreciate the financial returns we have been delivering for almost three decades,” said Keith Barr, chief executive officer, IHG Greater China.  “And, one of our strategies to continue and even accelerate our quality growth in China is to partner with large scale and influential real estate developers like Poly Real Estate.”
Poly Real Estate is China’s leading state-owned real estate company, with 119 subsidiaries spreading across 35 cities nationwide. IHG was the very first international hotel group and so far the only one to manage Poly Real Estate’s hotels. This new contract between the two industries leaders has raised Poly Real Estate’s number of IHG-managed hotels from three to nine.

Song Guangju, chairwoman of the board, Poly Real Estate (Group) Co., Ltd, said: “Ever since our first cooperation with IHG in 2007, our partnership has proven to be very successful. We are glad to have joined with IHG to develop hotels in China’s emerging markets. We have great confidence in IHG’s competitive advantages, and value their brands and management expertise to consistently deliver the best service. “
The local hotel market will enjoy huge room growth in the coming years as the number of Chinese domestic tourists travelling is expected to grow substantially due to China’s robust economic growth and increasing urbanization. All this will lead to an increased demand for leisure travel, particularly in resort areas. According to statistics, every one in four international travelers will be Chinese in the next ten years.

The six new signed hotels are:

InterContinental Guangzhou Exhibition Centre: 300 rooms, to open in 2014
InterContinental Shunde: 300 rooms, to open in 2015
InterContinental Foshan Dongping: 300 rooms, to open in 2014
Crowne Plaza Hailing Island: 320 rooms, to open in 2014
Crowne Plaza Nanchang Wanli: 300 rooms, to open in 2014
Holiday Inn Guangzhou Science City: 253 rooms, to open in 2014
The three hotels signed with Poly Real Estate in 2007 are:
InterContinental Foshan: 450 rooms, opened
Crowne Plaza Chengdu Poly Garden: 350 rooms, to open in 2011
Crowne Plaza Chongqing Poly Garden: 300 rooms, to be open in 2013

As part of its rapid expansion in China, one in four of the hotel rooms that IHG opens over the next 5 years will be in China.  Established in the China market since 1984, IHG has become a trusted partner for local owners through its successful operations and record-tracked financial return. In over 50 cities, IHG currently has 148 hotels open under five brands - InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts and Holiday Inn Express - and nearly 150 hotels more in the development pipeline.