UK-based InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has announced a boost in the sales of its Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express brands in the UK due, to the 2012 Olympic games.
IHG has reported that its brand images for Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express have increased with business travellers, owing to its role as the official hospitality partner for the games. As part of its Olympic programme, Holiday Inn is also the brand operating the athletes’ village, which is located close to the main stadium in Stratford, London.
The occupancy rates for the brands’ 51 properties in and around London have been at around 90 percent for the games period to date.
The company chief executive, Richard Solomons, said, ‘It’s a great opportunity to showcase both brands on a global scale and the campaigns in the run-up to the Games have driven great results.
In the UK, we have seen an 11 percent increase in consideration for the brand among business travellers.
Those guests who have seen our campaign are also 50 percent more likely to stay with us again than they were before.
We would expect 80 percent occupancy during August so the Olympics has clearly had a beneficial effect. We have new Holiday Inn and Staybridge hotels right by the Olympic park.
We have delivered good results in the first half with revpar growth from all regions through gains in both occupancy and rate.
Our brands continue to perform well and we have achieved solid underlying margin growth, resulting in increased profits and strong cash flows.’
