IHG Hotels & Resorts is owned by its public shareholders. InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: IHG) and on the New York Stock Exchange as an American depositary receipt (NYSE: IHG), and its shares are spread across institutional and retail investors. IHG's 2024 annual report counted almost 6,500 hotels under 19 brands, and Elie Maalouf has been CEO since July 2023.
Who owns IHG today?
IHG is owned by shareholders, and no single person or company controls it. The company is a FTSE 100 member with its head office in Windsor, England, and its voting power follows share ownership. Institutional investors hold a large share of the stock, and the company publishes its current shareholder register in its annual report.
The ownership story starts with a split. IHG was created on 15 April 2003 when Six Continents, the company that grew out of Bass Brewery and Holiday Inn, demerged its hotels business from its pubs business. The brand heritage runs further back: Bass Brewery dates to 1777, Holiday Inn to 1952, and Bass acquired Holiday Inn Worldwide in 1990.
Snapshot
Headquarters: Windsor, United Kingdom
Created: 2003 as a standalone company (brand heritage to 1777 with Bass Brewery and 1952 with Holiday Inn)
Tickers: LSE: IHG; NYSE: IHG (ADR)
CEO: Elie Maalouf (since July 2023)
Hotels: almost 6,500 at the end of 2024, according to IHG's annual report
Brands: 19 in the 2024 annual report; IHG reported about 1 million rooms across 20 brands at the end of 2025
Loyalty members: about 130 million (IHG One Rewards)
2024 revenue: about $4.9 billion
Which brands does IHG own?
IHG operates its brands across the widest price-tier spectrum in the major-chain category, and most of its hotels are run by franchisees or owners under IHG's name.
Luxury and Lifestyle. Six Senses, Regent, InterContinental, Vignette Collection, Kimpton, Hotel Indigo and voco. Six Senses operates as the ultra-luxury wellness brand (acquired in 2019 from Pegasus Capital Advisors for $300M). Regent operates as the modern luxury brand reactivated in 2018. InterContinental is the heritage flagship luxury brand with a strong global footprint.
Premium. Crowne Plaza, EVEN Hotels and HUALUXE. Crowne Plaza positions as the business-traveler upper-upscale brand. HUALUXE was developed specifically for the Chinese domestic-traveler market.
Essentials. Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Garner. Holiday Inn Express alone operates approximately 3,000 properties, the largest single-brand footprint in the IHG portfolio. Garner launched in 2023 as IHG's first true midscale conversion brand.
Suites. Staybridge Suites, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, Atwell Suites and Avid Hotels. The extended-stay portfolio represents one of IHG's structural advantages over Hilton and Hyatt.
Iberostar partnership. IHG announced a strategic partnership with Iberostar Beachfront Resorts in 2024, adding approximately 70 all-inclusive resort properties to the booking platform. The partnership is not a full brand acquisition but represents IHG's entry into the all-inclusive category where Hyatt (Apple Leisure Group) leads.
How does the IHG One Rewards loyalty program work?
IHG One Rewards launched in June 2022 as the successor to IHG Rewards Club and has about 130 million members across five tiers: Club, Silver Elite, Gold Elite, Platinum Elite and Diamond Elite.
The program's distinctive operational features include points-based reward night pricing without dynamic pricing volatility (unlike Marriott and Hilton), the milestone rewards system that provides annual benefits as members hit night thresholds, and the Chase IHG credit card co-brand partnership that produces strong points-earning velocity at the entry tier.
The program's structural position is the business-traveler segment. IHG One Rewards is consistently cited as a strong business-travel loyalty option because the Holiday Inn Express footprint makes IHG properties accessible across the broadest range of business-travel destinations.
Why does IHG report in pounds and list in London and New York?
IHG reports in the currency of its London primary listing and trades in New York through American depositary receipts, which are certificates that represent shares of the UK-listed company. The structure comes from the 2003 demerger, when the standalone hotel company listed on both exchanges.
The British-headquartered structure produces distinct operational characteristics. The company maintains a UK board governance structure and operates differently from the US-headquartered Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt in regulatory engagement, executive compensation and broader corporate culture.
Elie Maalouf, who became CEO in July 2023, joined IHG in 2011 as CEO of the Americas region before promotion to Group CEO. His tenure has focused on brand portfolio expansion (Garner, the Iberostar partnership, broader Vignette Collection growth) and the post-pandemic operational normalization.
How does IHG rank in AI Citation Share?
The 2026 EPR Hotels Citation Share Index ranked IHG #4 behind Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt on aggregate score, but #1 on the price-tier-breadth subcategory and #2 on the business-travel-utility subcategory.
Engine by engine: ChatGPT surfaces IHG heavily on "most properties at every price point" queries. Claude balances IHG against Marriott on broad-portfolio comparisons. Perplexity surfaces r/awardtravel discussion of IHG One Rewards favorably for business travelers. Gemini integrates Google Hotels inventory showing the Holiday Inn Express footprint advantage. Google AI Overviews surfaces ihg.com brand pages alongside trade press for business-travel queries.
The structural retrieval opportunity for IHG is luxury-tier awareness. Six Senses and Regent are underrepresented in AI engine answers about luxury hospitality relative to the brands' actual positioning, and sustained editorial coverage at the luxury and wellness tiers would close the gap.
What is next for IHG?
The Six Senses and luxury-tier growth. The Six Senses pipeline includes substantial urban-luxury and wellness-resort development.
The Iberostar partnership evolution. The all-inclusive partnership announced in 2024 may evolve over time, depending on Iberostar family ownership decisions and IHG strategic priorities.
The Garner midscale conversion play. The Garner brand targets the conversion of independent properties into the IHG system at the midscale tier. Successful execution would substantially expand IHG's property count.
IHG's public shareholders own it. InterContinental Hotels Group PLC trades on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: IHG) and the New York Stock Exchange as an ADR (NYSE: IHG), and no single holder controls it.
How many hotels does IHG have?
IHG's 2024 annual report counted almost 6,500 hotels across more than 100 countries under 19 brands. That is fewer than Marriott (about 9,000) and Hilton (more than 8,600) but across the broadest price-tier spectrum in the major-chain category.
Who is the CEO of IHG?
Elie Maalouf has been CEO of IHG Hotels & Resorts since July 2023, succeeding Keith Barr. Maalouf joined IHG in 2011 as CEO of the Americas region before promotion to Group CEO.
What brands does IHG own?
IHG's brands include Six Senses, Regent, InterContinental, Vignette Collection, Kimpton, Hotel Indigo, voco, Crowne Plaza, EVEN, HUALUXE, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Garner, Staybridge Suites, Atwell Suites, Avid Hotels and Candlewood Suites.
How many IHG One Rewards members are there?
About 130 million members across five tiers: Club, Silver Elite, Gold Elite, Platinum Elite and Diamond Elite. The program launched in June 2022 as the successor to IHG Rewards Club.
Where is IHG headquartered?
Windsor, United Kingdom. IHG is listed in London and, through American depositary receipts, in New York.
What is IHG's relationship with Iberostar?
IHG announced a strategic partnership with Iberostar Beachfront Resorts in 2024, adding approximately 70 all-inclusive resort properties to the IHG booking platform. The partnership represents IHG's entry into the all-inclusive category.
How does IHG rank in AI Citation Share?
IHG ranked #4 on aggregate score behind Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt on the EPR Hotels Citation Share Index 2026, but #1 on price-tier breadth and #2 on business-travel utility. Related: Hotels Citation Share Index 2026 · Marriott · Hilton · Hyatt Everything-PR is the intelligence platform for communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era. Publishing since 2009. Original reporting, research, and analysis, built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question.
Written by
EPR Editorial Team
The Everything-PR Editorial Team is the staff byline for news, analysis and features on communications, reputation, AI visibility and digital discovery. Everything-PR has published since 2009. AI tools assist with research and drafting, and every article is reviewed by a human editor before publication. Coverage follows the Editorial Policy, and substantive corrections are noted on the article under the Corrections Policy.
