Elie Maalouf

Look, we pride ourselves on having a stay for everybody.

And in 2025, both Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express had a positive year around the world.

Now, I'd say the upper end, luxury, had an even more positive year.

That's been a trend going on for a couple years.

We think over time, the mainstream travel, the middle class travel, will converge.

And some years, you find that luxury does better than mainstream.

Some years, mainstream does better than luxury.

There are strong structural drivers for both.

In mainstream, the middle class is growing around the world.

In China, the middle class is going to double in the next 10 years.

In India, Southeast Asia, similar figures.

In the United States, the middle class is getting wealthier.

And so the middle class is the heart of the business, and that has strong structural drivers.

At the upper end, at the luxury, you've got two structural drivers.

First, you've got an aging population.

That's, however, aging in a healthier and wealthier condition.

And one of the main things they want to do is travel.

They prioritize live experiences over products, and they're living longer, healthier, and they want to travel more.

So that's got a structural driver.

I think both have a very good future.