InterContinental Hotels Group later this year will add its
13th brand, an upscale badge focused on hotel conversions.
IHG didn't reveal a name or first location for the new brand,
but did say it would be directed overseas, where the percentage of branded
upscale hotels is lower than in the U.S. IHG CEO Keith Barr called Europe "a
much bigger pool to go fishing."
"This will offer a new guest proposition which delivers
a strong visual identity through a focused set of high-value brand standards,"
IHG CEO Keith Barr said during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call.
IHG said it would target the Middle East as well as Europe for
conversions.