NEW YORK— InterContinental Hotel Group executives will have the honor of ringing the closing bell on Wall Street today to end the day’s stock trading session. The privilege comes less than a year after the company officially de-merged from Six Continents. However, since that break, IHG has emerged as a much different, and stronger hotel company, executives said during a special luncheon event held earlier today at the New York Stock Exchange. “The last 12 months have been the most difficult for any of us in the hotel business,” IHG CEO Richard North said. “But despite that, we have had a fantastic year.” Admitting that the company had some “operational problems” 12 to 18 months ago, IHG has since reorganized, shaped its management team around the world, taken out an extraordinary amount of costs, cut its capital expenditures and “is looking seriously at the assets we own,” North said. With all that, IHG is now looking to leverage its size and portfolio of brands for its franchisees, North said. “It’s about scale. We have a portfolio of brands that is now part of a family of brands, which gives us scale. Scale enables us to invest in many areas,” he said, citing a central reservation system, the Internet and other technologies. “That is the future of our industry. There will be a small number of companies that have a family of brands that they can scale,” North said. In addition to North, Stevan Porter, president, The Americas; Vicki Gordon, senior vp, corporate affairs, The Americas; Peter Gowers, executive vp, global brand services; Patrick Imbardelli, managing director, Asia Pacific; Jim Larson, executive vp, human resources; Richard Winter, executive vp, corporate services and general council; and John Merkin, vp, franchise operations, North America, will also be present at the closing ceremony. — Elliot Markowitz
