IHG Announces New Vice President Development Europe

By: InterContinental Hotels Group | 6 Shares 144 Reads

November 14, 2012 // Franchising.com // IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) has appointed Philippe Bijaoui to the role of Vice President Development for Europe.

Reporting to Chief Development Officer Europe, Robert Shepherd, Bijaoui will lead the development of IHG’s brands throughout the region, ensuring the continued growth of both franchised and managed hotels.

Bijaoui has over 18 years international experience in hotel development and real estate, covering acquisitions, asset management, consulting and brand development. Prior to joining IHG, he spent five years working at Rezidor Hotel Group as Vice President Business Development for Southern and Eastern Europe and head of the Hotel Missoni brand globally. Bijaoui’s previous roles also include positions as Global Senior Vice President Development for Club Mediterranee, Managing Director at HVS International in Madrid, Director of Business Development at Rezidor Hotel Group, Director of Acquisitions at City Hotels Brussels and Asset Manager and Developer for Societe Immobiliere Hoteliere (SIH) Group.

Chief Development Officer Europe, Robert Shepherd said: “Europe is an important region for our business and there are significant growth opportunities - I’m delighted to have someone of Philippe’s experience on board to help us capitalise them. Philippe will lead our talented team of developers who are working to boost scale throughout the region, particularly in the UK, Germany, Russia and CIS. We’ve had a successful 2012 to date, signing over 4,000 rooms throughout the region and there’s still plenty of headroom to grow.”

Philippe Bijaoui said: “IHG has an industry leading global pipeline and world renowned brands. I’m thrilled to be joining the company and am looking forward to working with the team to drive high quality growth in a region I know very well and am passionate about. Demand for IHG’s brands continues to grow throughout the region and I’m excited about the opportunities awaiting us in Europe.”

Bijaoui will be based at IHG’s head office in Denham, UK. He holds a Master of Business Administration from IMHI Cornell-Essec, a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Tel Aviv University, and is fluent in English, French, Hebrew and Spanish.

IHG has 622 hotels (101, 505 rooms) in Europe, with a further 86 hotels (14, 357 rooms) in the pipeline.

About IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group)

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global organisation with nine hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites®, Candlewood Suites®, EVEN™ Hotels and HUALUXE™ Hotels & Resorts. IHG also manages Priority Club® Rewards, the world’s first and largest hotel loyalty programme with over 69 million members worldwide.

IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns over 4,500 hotels and more than 672,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories. With more than 1,000 hotels in its development pipeline, IHG expects to recruit around 90,000 people into additional roles across its estate over the next few years.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group’s holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

Visit www.ihg.com for hotel information and reservations and www.priorityclub.com for more on Priority Club Rewards. For our latest news, visit www.ihg.com/media, www.twitter.com/ihg, www.facebook.com/ihg or www.youtube.com/ihgplc.

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