As it continues to accelerate growth in the Asia Pacific, IHG Hotels & Resorts has reached the 1000 open hotels milestone.

With 1012 open across the region, the number includes more than 700 in greater China.

IHG Asia Pacific MD, Rajit Sukumaran, said there are great long-term opportunities by investing in the company’s brands and driving growth in its markets.

“We know that people have a fundamental desire to travel and meet in person and, whether it’s for leisure or business, we’re there for them and offer a wonderful selection of hotel brands and experiences for all types of travel,” he said.

“We’re achieving this by maintaining our industry-leading position in the Mainstream segment through our much-loved Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express brands, which make up more than half of IHG’s existing portfolio and half of its pipeline in APAC.

“We’re also investing in our six Luxury & Lifestyle brands, which account for 22 per cent of our global pipeline, around twice the amount five years ago.

“It is home to about 60 per cent of our InterContinental brand’s global pipeline, as well as iconic award-winning hotels across Six Senses and Regent.”

Asia Pacific is poised to see the most rapid growth in passenger traffic globally over the long term and newly relaxed travel arrangements such as visa-waiver agreements between countries and new flight routes will aid in boosting demand, according to IHG.

“The strong performance of our hotels over the past year has strengthened owner appetite for continued investment in the hospitality industry,” Sukumaran said.

“Industry statistics are showing a strong construction pipeline of over 5700 projects across the region with over 1200 to open this year alone in the hospitality sector.”