BEIJING: When is a Holiday Inn not a Holiday Inn?
Answer: When it’s in China and it’s name is being used illegally.
The InterContinental Hotels Group, which plans to almost double the number of hotels it manages in Greater China over the next two years, has called for China’s lax intellectual property rules and franchise laws to be updated.
Edmond Ip, IHG’s greater China chief operating officer, told Reuters that there were so many “pirate” Holiday Inns in China that he had lost count.
Ip said the piracy of his company’s brands would be flattering if the issue were not so serious. “Without our brand, we are zero,” he said.
“That’s why IHG handles the management of its property in China by itself and has not yet ventured into franchise arrangements, which are still heavily regulated in China.”
Ip said in a more mature market, Ip would prefer to use franchising to help him expand even faster in China.
“But it will take time to put up a legal structure,” he said, adding that China was still one of the worst offenders of intellectual property rights.
