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InterContinental

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This article is about the hotel brand. For its parent company, see IHG Hotels & Resorts. For other uses, see Intercontinental (disambiguation).
InterContinental Hotels & Resorts
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryHotels
Founded4 April 1946; 78 years ago (1946-04-04)
FounderJuan Trippe
Number of locations
208 hotels and resorts
Owner
Websiteihg.com/intercontinental

InterContinental Hotels & Resorts is a British-American luxury hotel brand created in 1946 by Pan Am founder Juan Trippe.[1] It has been part of UK-based InterContinental Hotels Group since 1998.[1] As of January 2023, there were 208 InterContinental hotels worldwide, with 70,287 rooms.[2]

History

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Grande Hotel, Belém, Brazil, the chain's first property, seen in 1949
The InterContinental Vienna, the oldest continuously operating member of the chain, since 1964
Duna Inter-Continental Budapest, seen in 1974

Early years

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In 1945, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Juan Trippe, President of Pan Am, discussed their concern for Latin America's need for development funds at a White House breakfast. The two men thought that one way to attract businessmen and tourists would be to offer luxury hotels in key cities.[3] Trippe contacted Statler Hotels' chief executive H.B. Callis, and his company undertook a feasibility study, but the company decided the program would be too expensive. Trippe contacted multiple other US hotel chains, but none showed interest. Roosevelt requested that Pan Am take the lead in developing 5000 hotel rooms in Latin America, with a projected cost of $50,000,000. Pan Am's profit that year was only $3 million, so a $25,000,000 line of credit was arranged for Pan Am with the Export–Import Bank of the United States.[4] Trippe agreed to form a subsidiary company to foster the implementation of the idea. The hotels would also serve to accommodate Pan Am crews and passengers in destinations where upscale hotels were not yet present.[3]

On 4 April 1946, the International Hotels Corporation was founded, with Pan Am owning a 100% stake.[4] Throughout 1946, company executives traveled to cities across Latin America on fact-finding trips to scout potential locations. In early 1947, Pan Am decided that Intercontinental Hotels Corporation would more accurately reflect the chain's eventual global goals for expansion, and the company was renamed.[4] The company signed its first lease that year, for the partially-completed Hotel Victoria Plaza in Montevideo, Uruguay. Construction there would end up continuing for more than five years.[4] Throughout 1948, more locations were scouted, and in early 1949 agreements were signed for properties in Caracas and Maracaibo, Venezuela.

On 1 May 1949, Intercontinental assumed operation of its first hotel, the 85-room Grande Hotel, in Belém, Brazil, which had been constructed in the early 20th Century.[5] On 1 January 1950, Intercontinental assumed operation of its second hotel, the Hotel Carrera, in Santiago, Chile.[6] Over the next three years, the company took over three more existing hotels – the Hotel del Prado in Barranquilla, Colombia; the Hotel Reforma in Mexico City and The Princess in Hamilton, Bermuda. In 1953, Intercontinental opened three newly constructed properties – the Hotel Victoria Plaza in Montevideo, the Hotel Tamanaco in Caracas and the Hotel del Lago in Maracaibo. That same year, they also opened the Hotel Tequendama in Bogotá, Colombia, the largest hotel in South America and the first hotel to be developed, designed and constructed completely under Intercontinental supervision.[4] All four properties were designed by the Chicago firm of Holabird, Root & Burgee. In 1955, Intercontinental purchased a 47% stake in the Hotel Nacional de Cuba, in Havana. By 1958, the chain had sixteen hotels in operation throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.[4]

Global expansion

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In 1961, Intercontinental Hotels opened its first property in the Middle East, the Phoenicia Intercontinental Beirut, in Lebanon. In 1962, the chain expanded to three more continents, assuming management of the Ducor Palace Hotel in Monrovia, Liberia in April,[7] opening the Hotel Indonesia in Jakarta, Indonesia, in July,[8] and The Southern Cross in Melbourne, Australia, in August.[9] The first properties in Europe followed in May 1963, with simultaneous openings in Dublin, Cork and Limerick, Ireland.[10] In 1964, Intercontinental became the first American hotel chain to operate in Eastern Europe, when it assumed management of the Hotel Esplanade in Zagreb, Yugoslavia. The chain would continue to be unique among western hospitality companies in operating behind the "Iron Curtain", opening properties in Budapest, Bucharest, Prague and Warsaw between 1968 and 1974.[4]

The company continued constructing new luxury hotels in Pan Am destinations around the world. In its hotel designs, Intercontinental aspired to combine Mid-century modern American luxury with decorative elements drawn from local cultures.[3] Between 1961 and 1985, Intercontinental's head designer, Neal Prince, designed interiors and branding for 135 hotels.[3][11]

The chain was officially rebranded as Inter•Continental Hotels in 1966, with the name commonly spelled with a hyphen as Inter-Continental when typed.[12]

In 1972, Inter-Continental started a line of moderately priced hotels, called Forum Hotels.[13] The first Forum property was the Lee Gardens Hotel in Hong Kong.[14] Inter-Continental opened its first hotel in the United States in 1973, when it assumed management of the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco.[15]

Post-Pan Am era

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Facing significant financial losses,[16] Pan Am sold their profitable Inter-Continental Hotels division to Grand Metropolitan on 19 August 1981 for $500 million. On 1 April 1982, the new owners merged their existing chain of 17 Grand Metropolitan Hotels into Inter-Continental and its sibling chain Forum Hotels.[17]

Later in 1982, Inter-Continental formed a joint venture with Scanticon International, a Danish company that had opened a highly successful conference hotel near Princeton, New Jersey in 1981.[18] Inter-Continental owned 80% of the business, with Scanticon controlling 20%. Additional Scanticon conference hotels were opened in Minneapolis and Denver, before InterContinental exited the joint venture in 1991.

Grand Metropolitan sold Inter-Continental Hotels to the Tokyo-based Seibu Saison Group on 1 October 1988 for $2.27 billion, for a profit of $850 million after taxes.[19] On 20 February 1998, the Saison Group sold the chain to Bass PLC, for $2.9 billion.[20]

In 2000, Bass sold its namesake brewing business, along with its name and red triangle trademark, to Interbrew, for £2.3 billion.[21] On 27 June 2001, Bass renamed itself Six Continents, focusing on its hotels and its 2000 restaurants and bars. The name Six Continents was chosen from among 10,000 staff submissions, and was already the name of the Inter-Continental Hotels loyalty club.[22] In 2003, Six Continents demerged its bar and pubs business into a separate company, Mitchells & Butlers, and the hospitality company was renamed InterContinental Hotels Group.[23] At the same time, Inter-Continental Hotels dropped the hyphen in its name and became InterContinental Hotels. The chain is one of numerous brands today within the company.

Notable properties

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InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown, located within the Wilshire Grand Center in downtown Los Angeles, is the largest InterContinental in the Americas and the tallest building in Los Angeles.[24]

InterContinental manages the Willard InterContinental Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C., two blocks east of the White House. The 177-year-old hotel has hosted many heads of state.[25]

InterContinental briefly operated a hotel in Lagos, but withdrew from Nigeria in 2018, after a disagreement with its local partners over the terms of how to get the property out of receivership, just four years after the hotel opened.[26]

The Inter-Continental Kabul opened in 1969, but ceased operation following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The hotel continues to operate independently using the Inter-Continental name, but unaffiliated with the chain.[27]

Properties

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2003–2010

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Americas Europe,
Middle East,
& Africa		 Asia-Pacific Total
2003[28] Properties 46 63 26 135
Rooms 15,074 20,842 9,130 45,046
2004[29] Properties 44 62 26 132
Rooms 15,088 20,292 9,136 44,516
2005[30] Properties 45 65 27 137
Rooms 15,328 21,473 9,461 46,262
2006[31] Properties 49 66 33 148
Rooms 16,525 21,423 11,651 49,599
2007[32] Properties 50 62 37 149
Rooms 16,624 20,012 14,126 50,762
2008[33] Properties 55 64 40 159
Rooms 18,502 20,836 15,398 54,736
2009[34] Properties 55 65 46 166
Rooms 18,499 20,586 17,036 56,121
2010[35] Properties 56 64 51 171
Rooms 19,120 20,111 19,198 58,429

2011–2017

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Americas Europe Asia,
Middle East,
& Africa		 Greater China Total
2011[36] Properties 52 30 64 23 169
Rooms 17,598 9,664 20,425 9,911 57,598
2012[37] Properties 53 30 65 22 170
Rooms 17,756 9,394 20,791 9,373 57,314
2013[38] Properties 51 31 67 29 178
Rooms 17,453 9,525 21,383 11,742 60,103
2014[39] Properties 50 30 67 33 180
Rooms 16,897 9,372 21,424 13,542 61,235
2015[40] Properties 50 32 68 34 184
Rooms 17,109 9,886 21,238 13,807 62,040
2016[41] Properties 48 31 69 39 187
Rooms 16,408 9,724 21,203 16,315 63,650
2017[42] Properties 50 32 72 40 194
Rooms 17,578 9,889 21,902 16,629 65,998

From 2018

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Americas Europe,
Middle East,
Asia,
& Africa		 Greater China Total
2018[43] Properties 51 106 47 204
Rooms 17,753 32,299 19,229 69,281
2019[44] Properties 51 113 48 212
Rooms 17,896 33,515 19,570 70,981
2020[45] Properties 46 108 51 205
Rooms 16,789 32,474 20,678 69,941
2021[46] Properties 43 108 53 204
Rooms 15,651 32,561 21,190 69,402
2022[47] Properties 42 111 54 207
Rooms 15,541 32,861 21,404 69,806
2023[48] Properties 43 119 60 222
Rooms 15,674 34,443 23,383 73,500

References

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  1. ^ a b "History of InterContinental Hotels Group". InterContinental Hotels & Resorts. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  2. ^ "Our Brands". InterContinental Hotels & Resorts. 26 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d Street, Francesca (December 8, 2021). "The inside story of InterContinental Hotels' quest to export 1960s American glamor to the world". CNN. Cable News Network. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Potter, James E. (1996). A Room With A World View: 50 Years of Inter-Continental Hotels and Its People: 1946-1996. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0297-83578-5.
  5. ^ "Growing up at the Grande: Living at the world's first InterContinental hotel".
  6. ^ "Page 6".
  7. ^ "Page 131".
  8. ^ "Page 144".
  9. ^ "Page 153".
  10. ^ "Page 186".
  11. ^ "Neal Prince". Designing the Luxury Hotel: Neal Prince and the Inter-Continental Hotel Brand. New York School of Interior Design Library. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  12. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2021-12-10. Retrieved 2020-05-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. ^ Pace, Eric (1981-08-20). "Pan Am Unit Is Profitable, and for Sale". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  14. ^ "Page 11". digitalcollections.library.miami.edu. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  15. ^ "Page 10". digitalcollections.library.miami.edu. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  16. ^ Pace, Eric (1981-08-21). "PAN AM IN PACT TO SELL HOTELS". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  17. ^ "Page 1".
  18. ^ "New Income Sources Developed". The Washington Post. 16 April 1983. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  19. ^ Sanger, David E. (1988-10-01). "COMPANY NEWS; Japanese Purchase Of Inter-Continental Set for $2.27 Billion". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  20. ^ "Bass Acquires Inter-Continental Hotels / Feb 1998". www.hotel-online.com. Archived from the original on 2023-01-26. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  21. ^ Carreyrou, John; BeckStaff, Ernest (2000-06-15). "Interbrew to Buy Bass Operations, Creating the World's No. 2 Brewer". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
  22. ^ "Bass to become Six Continents". the Guardian. 2001-06-27. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  23. ^ "Six Continents split-up to cost £100m". the Guardian. 2003-02-18. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  24. ^ Vincent, Roger (23 September 2014). "Hotel under construction in downtown L.A. will be an InterContinental". Los Angeles Times.
  25. ^ "Discover Our History". Willard. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  26. ^ "InterContinental Hotels to Exit Nigeria After Debt Fallout". Hospitality Net. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  27. ^ "Gunmen attack major Kabul hotel". BBC News. 20 January 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  28. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2003" (PDF). www.annualreports.com.
  29. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2004" (PDF). www.annualreports.com.
  30. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2005" (PDF). www.annualreports.com.
  31. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2006" (PDF). www.annualreports.com.
  32. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2007" (PDF). www.annualreports.com.
  33. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2008" (PDF). www.annualreports.com.
  34. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2009" (PDF). www.annualreports.com.
  35. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2010" (PDF). www.annualreports.com.
  36. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2011" (PDF). www.annualreports.com.
  37. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012" (PDF). www.annualreports.com.
  38. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2013" (PDF). www.annualreports.com.
  39. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2014" (PDF). www.annualreports.com.
  40. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2015" (PDF). www.annualreports.com.
  41. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2016" (PDF). www.annualreports.com.
  42. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2017" (PDF). www.annualreports.com.
  43. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2018" (PDF). www.annualreports.com.
  44. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2019" (PDF). www.annualreports.com.
  45. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2020" (PDF). www.annualreports.com.
  46. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2021" (PDF). www.annualreports.com.
  47. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022" (PDF). www.annualreports.com.
  48. ^ "IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2023" (PDF). www.ihgplc.com.
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