With over 200 hotels in Northern Europe and almost as many more to come, IHG is strengthening its position in this key market which, for the British group, includes the countries of Eastern Europe as well as Scandinavia and Germany. In the latter country, growth in the offer is particularly noticeable, with IHG beginning to reap the benefits of the franchise agreement signed earlier in the year with the Novum Hospitality group. Thanks to this partnership, IHG should eventually double in size in Germany. The collaboration between the Holiday Inn brand and the niu chain, from Novum Hospitalityhas given rise to around thirty co-branded hotels in major cities such as Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Stuttgart.
Thanks to this agreement too, new brands are about to appear across the Rhine, in particular the group's latest addition, the mid-range Garner brand. Focused on the conversion of existing hotels, Garner will make its debut by the end of the year, incorporating establishments currently operating under the Yggotel, Select Hotels and Novum brands. In all, more than fifty hotels are expected to make the switch in the near future. Similarly, IHG's Candlewood Suites long-stay brand will make its debut in Germany next year, welcoming into its ranks around ten establishments currently operating under the acora Living the City banner, present in the German capital as well as in cities such as Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Bochum, Karlsruhe and Leipzig.
But IHG's development in Germany is not based solely on the link forged last April with Novum Hospitality. A Holiday Inn Express budget hotel near Munich airport, in Erding, with 118 rooms and a conference area, is also due to open by the end of the year. But above all, its luxury and lifestyle brand Kimpton will soon be represented in GermanyFOUR Frankfurt, a new complex of four skyscrapers overlooking the Mainhattan skyline, will be home to major companies such as Allianz Real Estate and Sanofi. Expected to open by the end of 2024, the hotel will have 155 rooms, two bars and two restaurants, as well as a meeting space.
Among other developments, Kimpton also appeared in Hungary this summer at BudapestIn August, another luxury hotel joined the Vignette Collection luxury brand, the 48-room boutique Verno House. Next year, the British group will make its first foray outside the Hungarian capital in the town of Szekesfehervar with a 95-room hotel under its top-of-the-range voco brand.
Recently settled in Stockholm, at the heart of Sweden's Silicon Valley - the Kista district -, voco will be continuing its expansion in Europe next year with the conquest ofa new market, Poland. The fast-growing chain will be adding an address in Katowice with the conversion of an existing hotel in Katowice, close to the city's congress centre and the Polish Radio concert hall. Holiday Inn Express will also be adding a fourth budget hotel to its Polish network by the end of the year. Meanwhile, contemporary chain Hotel Indigo will be doing double duty in Krakow in 2025. After a hotel in the historic centre, the lifestyle brand will set up shop near Wawel Castle with a 74-room boutique hotel and two meeting rooms.
Mario Maxeiner, Managing Director of IHG Hotels & Resorts for Northern Europe, is delighted with the growth in the number of hotels in the region. "incredibly encouraging in these markets. But Southern Europe, and in particular Spain where the group is constantly announcing new developments, is just as favourable for expanding its portfolio. Among the future hotels expected are the Spanish debuts of the Vignette Collection next year, one on the island of Mallorca, in a finca that will house 45 rooms, the other in Jerez with a 34-room boutique hotel located just a few steps from the main square of the old town. A resort under the contemporary Hotel Indigo brand in Gandia in 2025 and a budget hotel close to San Sebastian airport and the French border.
