Hilton shows biggest growth
InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) has topped the annual MKG world hotel group ranking for 2009.
The UK-based group has now been the world's largest hotel chain since 2004.
In a top ten list which exactly duplicates that for 2008, IHG heads the rankings with 619,851 rooms, a 5.9% growth on its 585,094 rooms in 2008.
Second is Wyndham Worldwide which grew by 7.7% from 550,576 rooms in 2008 to 592,880 this year.
The chain with the biggest growth rate is Hilton which increased its size by 9.3%, rising from 498,174 rooms in 2008 to a current count of 544,361.
Two groups in the top ten shrank in size during the year, Global Hyatt, which finished tenth, contracted by 17.4% and seventh-placed Best Western by 1.1%.
Hyatt saw its room numbers fall from 138,503 in 208 to 114,343 this year while Best Western's dipped from 308,635 to 305,387.
While the ranking is done on room count, the chain to emerge with the largest number of properties was Wyndham which has 7,043 properties, a rise of 499 on its 2008 figure of 6,544.
Wyndham was also the chain with the highest rise in the number of its properties.
Choice had the second largest number of hotels with 5,827, followed by IHG with 4,186.
Again all but two chains increased in size. Hyatt had 373 properties in 2009, a drop of 347 on its 2008 figure of 720 while Best Western had three fewer properties and a 2009 total of 4,032.
MKG said Hyatt's drop in property numbers was a "direct influence of the group's strategy to concentrate on its upscale segment."
MKG said Wyndham's was "predominantly driven by the $131m acquisition of two brands from Global Hyatt, the economy Microtel Inns and the long-stay product Hawthorn Suites, together adding almost 400 new properties."
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