As the world’s largest hotel group* IHG understands that the roles of hotels in society goes beyond selling hotel rooms. The group must act responsibly and build trust in their brands.

Big Responsibility
Building trust and being a responsible business are fundamental. Their size and scale give them a big responsibility. The great news is that doing the right thing strengthens IHG’s reputation and reinforces trust in their bands. It shows, for instance, that they’re listening to their stakeholders. A growing number of guests want to make sustainable choices and lots of IHG corporate clients want proof of the groups green credentials.

BrandHearted
IHG treat Corporate Responsibility as a strategic business issue, and an integral part of their vision to become one of the world’s great companies by creating Great Hotels Guests Love. At the same time, they’re working to make their brands even stronger by becoming BrandHearted; putting their brands at the heart of everything they do in order to offer a more consistent experience for guests and owners.

LEED Green
The group’s approach to Corporate Responsibility is based on innovation and collaboration. They partner with some of the best organizations around in order to find new ways to tackle the challenges we all face. These include Harvard University, U.S. Green Building Council (makers of the LEED green building certification system), BiTC (Business in the Community), the World Travel and Tourism Council and CARE, who are helping IHG deliver their disaster relief program.

IHG has strong foundations in place and is forging a reputation for taking an industry lead in Corporate Responsibility. In 2011, IHG became the first hotel company to be aligned to LEED for an existing hotel program Green Engage. Green Engage is central to the environmental element of the group’s strategy and they continue to invest in it, having recently launched version 2.0 of the system that helps manage their hotels energy costs.

Making a Difference
The nature of their business also allows them to make a real difference in local communities when disaster strikes. IHG has a long history of pulling together to provide a shelter in a storm in their hotels and recognize that they have a real opportunity to use our size and scale for even more positive good. Under the IHG Shelter in a Storm Program, the group are reinforcing the great work they already do by developing standard operating procedures that will help them respond more effectively when natural and man-made disasters occur. IHG are working with their new global charity partner CARE on this important disaster relief program.

IHG has put Corporate Responsibility thinking into practice, providing a clear and transparent record of what they’ve achieved and what they need to do better. The group doesn’t pretend to have all the answers and they acknowledge there are areas they can improve. But IHG believe that striving to take an industry lead and making Corporate Responsibility a genuine part of their overall strategy to create brands and hotels that their guests and owners trust, and always prefer, will enable them to play a leading role in 21st century society.

*by number of rooms