IHG Owners Association Pushes Peer Power as Hotel Margins Squeeze

Three regional Summits, one paid CEO, and a volunteer leadership structure that shifted to professional management roughly a decade ago — that's the machinery behind the IHG Owners Association, and a former chair of the group argues it has never mattered more to owners' bottom lines.

Writing after attending one of this year's three regional Summits, the former chair — who leads Newport Hospitality Group — makes the case that owner participation in brand associations is a strategic investment, not an industry courtesy. The argument lands at a moment when profitability is under pressure, technology keeps changing how travelers book, and brand expectations keep shifting the cost burden onto property owners.

"Hotel owners cannot afford to sit on the sidelines when decisions affecting their investments are being made," the author writes.

What changed a decade ago?

The association's structure tells part of the story. Volunteer owners originally governed the group entirely. About ten years ago, it evolved into a more professionally managed organization: volunteer owners still set direction, while a paid CEO provides continuity and — critically, in the author's framing — helps ensure IHG corporate understands the needs of its ownership community.

That dual structure exists because owners and brands don't always agree on method or cost. The author is explicit that effective advocacy isn't about challenging every brand decision. It's about understanding competing priorities and working toward outcomes that benefit both sides — owners and brands share common goals but sometimes differ on how to achieve them, and at what price.

For franchisees and owner-operators, that gap is where the money lives. Brand standards, technology mandates and capital plans all carry costs that land on the owner's ledger, and the association functions as the collective counterweight a single owner can't provide.

What did this year's Summits cover?

Conversations at the 2025 gatherings focused on three tracks:

• industry trends and emerging challenges facing member properties;
• how the Association is working to make member hotels more valuable;
• shared operational concerns that individual owners would struggle to surface alone.

The author's point on collective leverage is straightforward: when owners share experiences and identify common concerns, they can influence solutions that would be difficult to achieve individually.

The dinner at Gibsons and the network effect

The Summits also produced a quieter story. An annual dinner at Gibsons brought together past association chairs, the current chair, and the CEO — a room where titles had expired but influence hadn't.

The author names the leaders who shaped that network: Bill DeForrest, Buggsi Patel, Kerry Ranson, Norm Leslie, Steve Ehrhardt, Mark Carrier, Navroz Saju, Jay Fishman, Mark Zipperner, Prakash Maggan, Mike Hoffman, Steve Sickel, and Kurt Furlong, among others. DeForrest in particular has shared his experience with Newport Hospitality Group associates at company leadership retreats — peer knowledge transferred directly into operator training.

"The titles may change, but the willingness to help one another remains," the author writes, noting that a dinner conversation or a phone call can deliver perspective unavailable in a formal brand meeting.

That mentorship has practical value. The people on that list have navigated different economic cycles, ownership challenges, and industry transformations — exactly the scenarios owners now face with rising operating costs and technology-driven shifts in distribution.

What does this change for owners heading into 2027?

The author's answer: treat association involvement like any other line item in the business plan. Owners already spend considerable time evaluating revenue opportunities, controlling expenses, reviewing capital plans, and monitoring performance. Peer learning and brand-shaping discussions belong on that same list.

Volunteer leadership costs time and commitment. It returns access to different perspectives, stronger professional relationships, and a clearer read on the issues affecting the broader ownership community.

And involvement doesn't require the chair's seat. The author sketches a low bar for entry: attending a meeting, asking thoughtful questions, volunteering for a committee, or flagging an operational concern others are likely experiencing too.

The forward pressures aren't easing. Technology will keep changing how travelers find and book properties, operating costs will remain a key consideration, and owners will keep balancing brand expectations against the financial realities of their investments — a set of headwinds the author says makes collaboration more important, not less.

His closing argument applies regardless of brand affiliation: the industry's strength isn't found solely in the brands or the properties, but in the relationships owners build and their willingness to contribute to something larger than their individual businesses. After decades in the industry, his conclusion is blunt — if owners want to help shape the future of hospitality, they need to join the conversation.