06/23/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/23/2021 13:02
InterContinental 75th Diamond Anniversary content series
The origins
The story began in the post-war boom with President Roosevelt's 'Good Neighbor Policy' to encourage inter-American trade. Roosevelt was convinced that trade, travel and tourism between Latin America and the US were key to post-war recovery. Pan Am Founder and Chief Executive, Juan Trippe saw the opportunity to create the InterContinental brand and improve and grow the Pan Am network by providing luxury accommodation in cities the airline serviced. Although the airline had a global reach, hospitality at some of its destinations fell well below the expectations of passengers, who were paying a premium for the new, expanding and luxurious commercial air travel.
Trippe, envisioning a rise in mass international air travel, agreed that Pan Am, with the support of institutions like the Export-Import Bank of the United States, could form a subsidiary to foster the implementation of the idea. Thus 'International Hotels Corporation', renamed in 1947 to InterContinental, was born. He ensured success by surrounding himself with experts in hospitality and utilising Pan Am's network of local experts to facilitate introductions that ensured he could open hotels in some of the best locations in key cities.
Beginnings in Brazil
Although the InterContinental brand was founded in 1946, the first hotel in Belém, Brazil didn't open until 1949. On 1 May 1949, InterContinental assumed management of its first hotel, the eighty-five roomed Grande hotel. The location was key, as a Pan-American Airways crossroads to South America and Africa, as well as the location of a major military base during World War II. The hotel had been built at the turn of the century and was a heritage building. Hotel operations looked very different in 1946 to today. Each of the four floors had a single telephone which was under the supervision of a phone attendant who would run to summon guests from their rooms when a call arrived. The hotel's 'laundry' was in the building's colonial-style central courtyard, where twenty attendants washed by hand. The hotel even had its own ice plant. Despite the challenges of operating as a new company in a new location, the hotel turned profit in the first year of operations by InterContinental, and this was doubled in the second year. Click here to read more about life at the first InterContinental hotel.
Conquering the world
The brand continued to expand, opening up the world to its curious guests and assuring their worldliness prospered. Initially expansion grew from Latin America to include the Caribbean, before the opening of the InterContinental Phoenicia Beirut in Lebanon in 1961, the first hotel outside the Americas. Next saw the opening of hotels in Liberia, Jakarta, Melbourne and three hotels in Ireland (an important refuelling hub for transatlantic flights at that time.) The brand opened 43 hotels in its first 20 years, and 134 in the next 20. Despite being an American company, its origins as a home-from-home for Americans overseas meant that the chain didn't open any US hotel until 1973, when it opened the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco - still one of the brand's best known and loved hotels. InterContinental Hotels & Resorts expanded steadily to become the world's first truly international luxury hotel brand, with hotels in some of the world's best known and up-and-coming destinations, currently operating 206 hotels with 70 hotels in the pipeline.
A world of heritage to explore
As part of a series exploring the heritage, design, destinations, food and drink and people that made InterContinental Hotels & Resorts one of the most iconic luxury hotel brands in the world, here are the first of 75 stories, looking at the heritage of the brand and its hotels through the ages:
The origins
The story began in the post-war boom with President Roosevelt's 'Good Neighbor Policy' to encourage inter-American trade. Roosevelt was convinced that trade, travel and tourism between Latin America and the US were key to post-war recovery. Pan Am Founder and Chief Executive, Juan Trippe saw the opportunity to create the InterContinental brand and improve and grow the Pan Am network by providing luxury accommodation in cities the airline serviced. Although the airline had a global reach, hospitality at some of its destinations fell well below the expectations of passengers, who were paying a premium for the new, expanding and luxurious commercial air travel.
Trippe, envisioning a rise in mass international air travel, agreed that Pan Am, with the support of institutions like the Export-Import Bank of the United States, could form a subsidiary to foster the implementation of the idea. Thus 'International Hotels Corporation', renamed in 1947 to InterContinental, was born. He ensured success by surrounding himself with experts in hospitality and utilising Pan Am's network of local experts to facilitate introductions that ensured he could open hotels in some of the best locations in key cities.
Beginnings in Brazil
Although the InterContinental brand was founded in 1946, the first hotel in Belém, Brazil didn't open until 1949. On 1 May 1949, InterContinental assumed management of its first hotel, the eighty-five roomed Grande hotel. The location was key, as a Pan-American Airways crossroads to South America and Africa, as well as the location of a major military base during World War II. The hotel had been built at the turn of the century and was a heritage building. Hotel operations looked very different in 1946 to today. Each of the four floors had a single telephone which was under the supervision of a phone attendant who would run to summon guests from their rooms when a call arrived. The hotel's 'laundry' was in the building's colonial-style central courtyard, where twenty attendants washed by hand. The hotel even had its own ice plant. Despite the challenges of operating as a new company in a new location, the hotel turned profit in the first year of operations by InterContinental, and this was doubled in the second year. Click here to read more about life at the first InterContinental hotel.
Conquering the world
The brand continued to expand, opening up the world to its curious guests and assuring their worldliness prospered. Initially expansion grew from Latin America to include the Caribbean, before the opening of the InterContinental Phoenicia Beirut in Lebanon in 1961, the first hotel outside the Americas. Next saw the opening of hotels in Liberia, Jakarta, Melbourne and three hotels in Ireland (an important refuelling hub for transatlantic flights at that time.) The brand opened 43 hotels in its first 20 years, and 134 in the next 20. Despite being an American company, its origins as a home-from-home for Americans overseas meant that the chain didn't open any US hotel until 1973, when it opened the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco - still one of the brand's best known and loved hotels. InterContinental Hotels & Resorts expanded steadily to become the world's first truly international luxury hotel brand, with hotels in some of the world's best known and up-and-coming destinations, currently operating 206 hotels with 70 hotels in the pipeline.
The origins
The story began in the post-war boom with President Roosevelt's 'Good Neighbor Policy' to encourage inter-American trade. Roosevelt was convinced that trade, travel and tourism between Latin America and the US were key to post-war recovery. Pan Am Founder and Chief Executive, Juan Trippe saw the opportunity to create the InterContinental brand and improve and grow the Pan Am network by providing luxury accommodation in cities the airline serviced. Although the airline had a global reach, hospitality at some of its destinations fell well below the expectations of passengers, who were paying a premium for the new, expanding and luxurious commercial air travel.
Trippe, envisioning a rise in mass international air travel, agreed that Pan Am, with the support of institutions like the Export-Import Bank of the United States, could form a subsidiary to foster the implementation of the idea. Thus 'International Hotels Corporation', renamed in 1947 to InterContinental, was born. He ensured success by surrounding himself with experts in hospitality and utilising Pan Am's network of local experts to facilitate introductions that ensured he could open hotels in some of the best locations in key cities.
Beginnings in Brazil
Although the InterContinental brand was founded in 1946, the first hotel in Belém, Brazil didn't open until 1949. On 1 May 1949, InterContinental assumed management of its first hotel, the eighty-five roomed Grande hotel. The location was key, as a Pan-American Airways crossroads to South America and Africa, as well as the location of a major military base during World War II. The hotel had been built at the turn of the century and was a heritage building. Hotel operations looked very different in 1946 to today. Each of the four floors had a single telephone which was under the supervision of a phone attendant who would run to summon guests from their rooms when a call arrived. The hotel's 'laundry' was in the building's colonial-style central courtyard, where twenty attendants washed by hand. The hotel even had its own ice plant. Despite the challenges of operating as a new company in a new location, the hotel turned profit in the first year of operations by InterContinental, and this was doubled in the second year. Click here to read more about life at the first InterContinental hotel.
Conquering the world
The brand continued to expand, opening up the world to its curious guests and assuring their worldliness prospered. Initially expansion grew from Latin America to include the Caribbean, before the opening of the InterContinental Phoenicia Beirut in Lebanon in 1961, the first hotel outside the Americas. Next saw the opening of hotels in Liberia, Jakarta, Melbourne and three hotels in Ireland (an important refuelling hub for transatlantic flights at that time.) The brand opened 43 hotels in its first 20 years, and 134 in the next 20. Despite being an American company, its origins as a home-from-home for Americans overseas meant that the chain didn't open any US hotel until 1973, when it opened the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco - still one of the brand's best known and loved hotels. InterContinental Hotels & Resorts expanded steadily to become the world's first truly international luxury hotel brand, with hotels in some of the world's best known and up-and-coming destinations, currently operating 206 hotels with 70 hotels in the pipeline.