The InterContinental Auckland (behind the ferry building). Image / Supplied
IHG Hotels & Resorts is on course to treble its footprint in Auckland and is optimistic about the coming year as travel continues to be a ”necessity”.
IHG has 10 hotels throughout New Zealand and has two big openings coming in 2024, including the InterContinental Auckland in the Commercial Bay precinct.
New Zealander Leanne Harwood is senior vice-president managing director, Japan, Australasia and Pacific and is also president of the Accommodation Association of Australia.
Appointed in 2018, she’s responsible for more than 150 hotels either open or in development in the region.
‘’I’m particularly excited being a Kiwi girl watching our growth in New Zealand, I couldn’t be prouder.’’
She said the record growth was based on the particular appetite for hospitality and tourism.
‘’This is where we’re seeing a lot of investment by developers which we’re loving because it gives us an opportunity to grow our brands in this part of the world.’’
There had been a massive rebound following Covid-related border closures and even though there’s some economic headwinds, tourism and travel continues to grow.
‘’People are not giving up on their travel, they’re not seeing it as a luxury anymore. They’re seeing it more as a necessity and something that sits within their annual budget,’’ she says.
‘’We’re not seeing a slowdown and that’s fuelling our growth across the region and particularly in New Zealand.’’
With 19 hotel brands and one of the world’s largest hotel loyalty programmes, IHG has over 6200 open hotels in over 100 countries, and nearly 2000 in the pipeline.
The group’s holding company is incorporated and registered in England and Wales. About 345,000 people work across IHG’s hotels and corporate offices globally. In the third quarter of 2023, revenue per available room was up 10 per cent across the group.
InterContinental Auckland will open in late January. The 139-room hotel will have about 100 staff and a club lounge. It has celebrity chef Gareth Stewart (previously co-host of New Zealand’s My Kitchen Rules and former executive chef of Foley Hospitality) on board. Rooms in the hotel, in the luxury band, will start at about $500.
And the 225-room boutique luxury Hotel Indigo, on Albert Street will open in the second half of next year. The company provides management services for a proportion of turnover – developers and property owners pay for the assets. ‘’We have a team that is both designers, engineers and a new hotel openings team who partner with the asset ownership to bring a property to life,’’ Harwood says.
Brand standards determine the direction for each hotel.
‘’Over the last four or five years we’ve been working with Precinct and once we’re open then that really is when we kick in, run it, manage it and work closely with them to ensure that we continue to deliver on their expectations.’’
While the InterContinental will miss the Christmas demand, it was still strong after Auckland Anniversary weekend, she said.
It is one of several openings of new hotels or rebuilds. ‘’I’m excited to see the investment in new hotels into New Zealand and I’m really excited to see that you’ve got companies like Marriott, who are working to invest in refurbishing the current hotels in market.’’
World-class, high-end hotels had been missing.
‘’We’ve done a very good job of that premium level, we’ve got some beautiful lodges throughout New Zealand, there’s no doubt but when it comes to luxury international hotels, it’s really been missing.’’
Harwood has more than 25 years’ experience in the hospitality industry, including 16 years working with IHG around the world. She was elected as president of the Accommodation Association of Australia in September 2021, becoming the first woman to hold the position in the 54-year history of the organisation.
IHG currently has the following 10 properties in New Zealand:
InterContinental Wellington
Crowne Plaza Christchurch
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Queenstown
Crowne Plaza Queenstown
Holiday Inn Queenstown Frankton Road
Holiday Inn Queenstown Remarkables Park
voco Auckland City Centre
Holiday Inn Express Auckland City Centre
Holiday Inn Auckland Airport
Crowne Plaza Auckland
A focus on environmental, social, and governance
‘’There is no doubt in the world that that is a demanding trend for consumers. They are absolutely focused on sustainability,’’ Harwood says.
Corporates were demanding to see its policies when they were doing requests for proposals.
‘’Companies won’t engage and won’t contract with hotel companies that don’t have corporate responsibility.’’
Fast-moving technology
In Japan there’s a shift to kiosks for check-in.
‘’Thank goodness, people still want to interact with other people in luxury hotels like InterContinentals. But what we are seeing is a real shift to AI usage for things like revenue management and positioning our pricing platforms.”
She said around the world IHG is rolling out the next generation of demand pricing that is predictive and means the revenue management team only has to tweak them.
‘’They’re actually getting to a point where the pricing is set by a system and they now manage by exception, not by the norm.’’
It wasn’t about saving money – there were still revenue managers.
‘’But what it does do is it creates a better way for us to price our inventory - it is about the top line versus the bottom line.’’
Local and cultural experiences are more important
At the InterContinental Auckland work by some local artists would feature around the hotel. Coupland Art have curated the art programme which represents a mix of local, iwi and international artists.
‘’I think this is where New Zealand does exceptionally well and I have to say that there’s an opportunity for other parts of the world including Australia to learn from New Zealand here, which is how do you bring the country or the location to life inside the hotel?’’ she says.
‘’We curate and build a story and that thread is actually in every part of the hotel right through bathrooms, design elements, restaurants, etc – so it really does bring it to life.’’
Hotels as social environments
People are getting out of their rooms and they want to connect and they want to use the lobby areas and the restaurants and bars very much as a social hub.
‘’That means we change the design elements to not only support that new trend but also to welcome people in from outside and they become part of it and the hotel becomes more part of the community,’’ Harwood says.
‘’It’s not just a bed anymore. It is about giving an experience and not just for the people that are staying in the hotel but we’re welcoming the wider community.
Diversity, equity and inclusion
‘’We do a number of programmes where we are starting to build wider communities and make sure that we focus in on that, be it through gender diversity and making sure that we welcome all people with abilities and disabilities into our hotels,’’ Harwood says.
She said it’s not only guests but also staff who are demanding this.
‘’When they do come and work for us, we want them to stay because they want them to feel like they’re part of something and that they working for a values based organisation.’’
People with disabilities was largely an untapped market and while all properties must meet government regulations there was more hoteliers could do.
‘’What we’re doing is creating a room that absolutely delivers on the expectations and the needs from a government requirement, but is also one that actually is user-friendly as well and is design-led and moving away from just per functionary styles of rooms.’’
She is also on a mission to entice young people into the hotel industry. She started in hospitality working in a Queenstown bar, aged 20, and is now running a region for a big international hotel company.
‘’For me, what’s important is that we really start to build a wider industry, that it is something that the next generation actually wants to come and work in and it’s not just seen as a transitory job, which we have a tendency to do.’’
‘’It can give people an opportunity to work overseas to go on and a have a wonderful, amazing experience of their life, but also build a future career so I’m on a mission to promote our industry.’’
The increasing importance of loyalty schemes
Numbers in the IHG One Rewards loyalty programme in 2022 increased by almost 40 per cent in 2022 to more than 115 million last year.
‘’Loyalty is playing an even more important role. Like an airline there’s the points, the currency is important, but what is equally important is recognition of repeat guests.’’
Rates for hotels have soared in one tourist hotspot while others have suffered.