InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms, continues to expand its footprint in Latin America with its recent 15-year licensing agreement with Shakir Investment Group, for a new-build Staybridge Suites hotel in Panama. The hotel is scheduled to open in 2012.
Panama has become a financial hub in South America. Considering he country’s growing prominence in the world of commerce, we believe it is a strategic fit for new hotels. A major competitor of InterContinental Hotels, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT) also plans to double its portfolio in Latin America, with maximum focus on Brazil, Panama and Peru.
There are more than 180 Staybridge Suites across the Americas, Europe and the Middle East and more than 100 in the pipeline, including 5 outside of the Americas.
The new 13-storied property featuring 122 guest rooms will be the first Staybridge Suites property in Central America, and the second in Latin America. This was the company’s 13th property in Brazil, which is known for its location in the exact geographic center of Latin America. The first InterContinental hotel was established in Brazil in 1946.
InterContinental has proven brand equity in Latin America with 64 years of operations behind it in the continent and 190 hotels in Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean. We believe the opening of these new properties will strengthen its brand presence in the Latin American region, which boasts of over half a billion people and an abundance of natural resources.
Of late, economic power has been shifting from the developed world to rapidly growing economies, and InterContinental and its peers have not escaped this transition.
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