As Japan’s inbound growth continues apace, Abhijay Sandilya, managing director of Japan & Micronesia at IHG Hotels & Resorts and CEO of IHG ANA Hotels Group Japan, discusses how the brand aims to capture a greater share of the market with new builds, conversions and partnerships, while localising to embrace the large domestic market
IHG is rapidly expanding in Japan. What openings are you most excited about and why?
We’re seeing growth across all segments and levels: from luxury to midscale, and in the regions, too. Our inbound guests want to stay in branded hotels while our Japanese guests want to experience some of our new brands coming into the market.
I think bringing Holiday Inn back to Tokyo and Kyoto in 2025 was a huge milestone for us. It’s one of the world’s largest and most recognised brands.
Also, our InterContinental brand, which is known to bring luxury to new destinations, certainly did that in Sapporo when it opened in October 2025. We were pioneers of luxury in Oita Prefecture, when we opened ANA InterContinental Beppu Resort & Spa in 2019, and now we’re pioneers in Hokkaido. This goes back to the 80-year legacy of the brand, which we celebrate this year.
IHG is growing across luxury, midscale and business brands. Why is this diversity important?
For IHG globally, Japan is categorised as a priority market; it’s the third largest hotel market in the world and capital remains the cheapest in the world. In a market the depth and size of Japan, the long-term success for any hotel company is winning cross-segment. We want to be represented across segments so consumers can avail of options at various price points.
When we launched our Garner brand in Osaka in 2024, in its debut outside of North America, it was proof-of-concept: the brand has guests that choose that segment and we are able to outprice some domestic competitors because guests are looking for access to a loyalty programme. Furthermore, hotels that have converted to our brand system, like Holiday Inn & Suites Sapporo Odori Park, have seen significant growth post-conversion.
In April, IHG announced a new loyalty programme with ANA. Why are such partnerships important?
We’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of our joint venture with ANA this year. After October, we’ll roll out our new comprehensive loyalty programme that will allow members to link their ANA Mileage Club and IHG One Rewards accounts to unlock crossover perks. Similarly, we partner with Rakuten, which has 95 million users across Japan, and we have a Line mini app so Japanese consumers can book where they are familiar.
These partnerships go back to our strategy to win the domestic consumer, alongside giving them access to co-branded hotels they know, such as ANA Holiday Inn Tosu, in Saga, and ANA Holiday Inn Kobe Sanda, which both opened in April.
As well as getting to a wider consumer base, we want to reward our 160 million IHG One Rewards members globally in the currency of their choice, such as ANA miles or Rakuten points, with tailored solutions, convenience and rewards on their terms.
Japan’s domestic tourism market has around 150 million travellers per quarter so domestic consumers are really important. To enable growth, we need our hyper-localised commercial engine.
As Japan continues to attract record numbers of visitors, what are your plans for the Japan market?
With our brands, we’ve built what is relevant for Japan. For example, we tailored the Garner brand to what is effective in this segment: we provide a 12m² to 15m² room with a pop of colour and a minimum F&B offering.
In Karuizawa, Nagano, we have renowned architect Kengo Kuma designing a wellness retreat, which will be our Regent brand’s first resort location in Japan when it opens in 2028. In another strong wellness angle, we’re also bringing Six Senses to Myoko Kogen, Niigata, combining a ski resort in Japan with the brand’s DNA.
We’ve spent the last 20 years in our joint venture with ANA, and more recently in the last five years since Japan became a priority market, building commercial engine localisation on new brands and co-brands in Japan. We’ll continue to do that at a multi-dimensional level to ensure our product is best suited for our B2B owner community and for our consumers.
