In April 2019, IHG announced it had opened 400 hotels in Greater China, its largest market outside the United States. The group opened its first hotel in China 35 years ago, when Holiday Inn opened its doors in 1984 in Beijing. Ever since, IHG has continued to grow its presence in the market, reaching 100 hotels in 2008, 300 in 2017, and 400 in 2019.
Much of IHG’s recent growth in China comes on the back of a successful franchise model. In 2016, the group launched Franchise Plus with one of its brands, Holiday Inn Express. It was a success with 140 new hotel signings, of which close to 30 are already open. IHG followed by expanding the model to two of its other brands, Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza, deepening its footprint in the Greater China area. The group now has 115,000 rooms in the region with 78,000 in the pipeline.