IHG Hotels & Resorts Appoints Daewon Ha as Head of Development in Korea

Ha Daewon, New Head of Development Division, IHG Hotels & Resorts Korea.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] Hotel company IHG Hotels & Resorts (hereinafter IHG) has appointed Ha Daewon, former CEO of DWHC Hotel Management Strategy Consulting, as the new head of its Korea development division.

According to IHG on the 2nd, Ha Daewon, the new head of Korea development, plans to support the strategic growth of the IHG brand in the Korean market and work on building long-term trust relationships with owners as an IHG ambassador in Korea.

Mr. Ha is a veteran with 25 years of experience in various areas including hotel business strategy and planning, brand development, contract negotiation and conversion, pre-opening, and project management in Korea.

Previously, Mr. Ha operated a hotel consulting firm and collaborated with hotel owners in various fields such as operator discovery, asset management, market feasibility analysis, brand strategy, and project management consulting. He also played key roles in projects including JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul, IHG’s InterContinental Alpensia Pyeongchang Resort, Holiday Inn Resort Alpensia Pyeongchang, Holiday Inn & Suites Alpensia Pyeongchang, as well as luxury dual-brand projects with Gangwon Development Corporation and Dongbu Group, the owners of these properties.

Serena Lim, Vice President of Development for Southeast Asia and Korea at IHG, said, “We are pleased to have Mr. Ha, who has proven solid capabilities in domestic hotel business strategy and development, join us. IHG has the ambition to grow its domestic business scale, which has more than doubled recently, by 30% within the next three years. We believe IHG’s growth plans will accelerate further.”

Mr. Ha said, “I am glad to become a part of IHG at a time when travel-related restrictions are easing and the travel and hotel industries are gradually recovering. I look forward to developing strategic win-win partnerships with owners and unlocking the potential of the IHG brand in Korea.”

Currently, IHG operates a total of nine hotels under three brands in Korea: InterContinental, Holiday Inn, and Holiday Inn Express. Voco is the fourth brand introduced domestically, with Voco Seoul Gangnam officially opening on the 23rd of last month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.