The time has come for the hotel industry to embrace change, according to InterContinental Hotels Group chief executive Andy Cosslett.
Speaking to delegates at this year’s IHG Americas investors and leaderships conference in Dallas, Texas, the hospitality chain boss said the industry had a responsibility to change.
“Great businesses are very resilient – they can take change in direction, ownership and chief executives, but no business can survive neglect.”
Cosslett said with technology advancing there is “nowhere for products or services to hide” and hotels need to move and change.
Highlighting the words of Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson, Cosslett said: “You need to take hold of change or change will take hold of you.”
He also said IHG, which covers brands including Holiday Inn and InterContinental Hotels, is now seeing about three times the amount of deals it was seeing four years ago and has around 200,000 rooms in the pipeline.
IHG Americas president Steve Porter said: “We are at a crossroads. We must re-fit for our future.”
IHG has more than 3,800 hotels and more than 563,000 rooms in its portfolio.