GLOBAL LEADERS: Kenneth Macpherson

I WOULD LIKE to take this opportunity to wish you a(belated) Happy New Year because I’m confident 2022is going to be very positive for our industry, despite the ongoing challenges of the pandemic and especially, right now, the impact of the Omicron variant.

In these pages a year ago, I wrote how the vaccination rollouts in Australasia and around the world were providing a true sense of optimism for the return of travel and the future of hospitality. Fast forward 12 months and we’ve seen the result with strong pent-up demand, and planes, trains, and – of course – hotels busy again wherever restrictions have eased. In fact, in some parts of the world in 2021, we saw rates and occupancy levels return to 2019levels at various times during the year.

It hasn’t just been about people enjoying a well-earned break and taking the chance to see loved ones again, it’s also been fantastic to see how quickly meetings and events have bounced back due to our natural desire to shake hands (or bump elbows) in person. I really enjoyed getting out to some industry conferences in Europe last summer and hearing about the success of events likeAHICE in Australia. When possible, I certainly can’t wait to head back Down Under and catch-up with the many friends I’ve made there over the years (just please don’t mention The Ashes!).

We will certainly have a lot to talk about when I do return, after a great team effort by everyone at IHG Hotels & Resorts saw us continue to grow our business in Australasia last year. We opened some stunning new hotels in Adelaide, Brisbane, Werribee, Queenstown and Perth, and signed many others. Of course, we also launched our 17th IHG brand – Vignette Collection – with Australia boasting the world’s first, Hotel X in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley. It’s at the top of my bucket list of places to stay, and I’m very much looking forward to meeting our fantastic team there.

My hopes and ambitions for our Asia-Pacific region in 2022 centre on our continued strong growth, which we will achieve by evolving our guest and owner offer and developing our brands at scale in high-value markets. We have a strong pipeline of wonderful hotels we can’t wait to open and have signed more into our system this month in what’s been a busy and successful start to the year.

We are also taking our loyalty offer to the next level for our much-valued IHG Rewards members, making some big changes that will be revealed in March as part of a new and improved programme. We’ve already announced a new tier and bonus point earning structure, but that’s just the start. Watch this space for more details – it’s really great stuff.

Of course, all of this is underpinned by our many incredible colleagues without whom IHG wouldn’t be in the healthy position it is today. Like the rest of our industry, we’re dealing with the current staff and skills shortage, and it’s been great to see how the innovative thinking of our teams has ensured we still have great talent coming into our hotels. One such example is “MyFlex” – an initiative that offers our hotel colleagues in Australia full flexibility in choosing the hours they work and how to balance their work/life commitments. It has been fantastic to see the positive feedback we’ve already had on this.

The future for our industry is bright, but let’s always remember that recovery is a team game, and we remain stronger together.

Number of hotels and rooms (Globally): 6,031 hotels and 889,164 rooms

Number of hotels and rooms (EMEAA): 1,149 hotels and 226,254 rooms

Number of hotels and rooms (Australasia): 63 hotels and 13,532 rooms

Year the company was founded: 1777 (as Bass Hotels)

Year first hotel opened (Global): 1946

Year first hotel opened (EMEAA): 1962

Brands in the organisation: 17

Head office locations: Denham, UK and Sydney, Australia