IHG Hotels & Resorts has tapped Leanne Harwood as its senior vice president, managing director for Luxury & Lifestyle Americas, the company announced Wednesday.
The hotel industry veteran will oversee operations for LLA, as well as drive performance of IHG’s six luxury and lifestyle brands: Six Senses, Regent Hotels & Resorts, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants and Vignette Collection. She assumes the role March 1.
Harwood is currently SVP, managing director for IHG’s Japan, Australasia and Pacific region, a role she has held since 2018. In the region, Harwood has expanded IHG’s reach to 160 open or in-pipeline hotels, as well as played a role in signing notable properties, including the InterContinental Sorrento Mornington Peninsula and Kimpton Margot Sydney in Australia, and the RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka and Regent Kyoto in Japan.
Harwood is also involved in professional organizations such as Accommodation Australia, where she was elected the group’s first female president, and is a chair of IHG’s ANA Hotels Group Japan Board. The announcement notes that Harwood was “an early sponsor” of IHG’s RISE program, which offers mentorship and training to develop female general managers.
She began her career at a hotel bar in New Zealand, where she rose to the role of food and beverage director and became New Zealand’s first female hotel concierge.
Jolyon Bulley, CEO — Americas at IHG, called Harwood “the right person to lead the next era of growth for our Luxury & Lifestyle portfolio.”
The burgeoning luxury and lifestyle segment has attracted increased investor interest in recent years.
IHG, in particular, has emphasized the importance of the segment to its overall strategy. In tandem with its third-quarter earnings report in October, the company released a 25-minute video interview with Jane Mackie, SVP of global marketing, luxury brands, about IHG’s luxury lifestyle portfolio and strategy. Mackie noted that IHG had 500 luxury and lifestyle hotels open as of October, and over 300 more in the pipeline.
One of IHG’s luxury and lifestyle brands, InterContinental Hotels, is in the midst of a “brand evolution” that aims to revamp the chain with offerings that better meet the needs of today’s experience-oriented luxury travelers.
