Q & A with Alexander Tony Ruiz, IHG's sales regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean

Q & A with Alexander Tony Ruiz
InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG)’s sales regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean
By Jose Carlos de Santiago

This year, InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) has also sponsored La Cumbre fair, held in Las Vegas. Within the framework of this important event, we had the chance to interview Mr. Tony Ruiz, recently appointed sales general director for Latin America and the Caribbean, who talked about the group’s new strategy to boost sales in Latin America, keeping up with their hotel expansion in that region.

I’d like you to tell us about previous experiences and how have you climbed up to this new position in IHG.
During my career, I’ve carried out many positions related to Marketing and Sales, but in the last 15 years I worked in Operations as general manager in many of InterContinental’s hotels in different countries. Recently, the company decided to expand the reach of Marketing and Sales in Latin America and they have given me a life-time opportunity by offering me this task, which I have accepted because it entails returning to my roots. Undoubtedly, I’m part of something that is going to be huge.

IHG hotel group is one of the most significant companies in the world and is ranked second in the USA. What would be your strategy for Latin America, according to this expansion, and what would be your role in this new office?
In terms of sales, you help to generate business activity in the properties you work with, but as openings are prepared or carried out, we help those hotels to successfully kick off, which means, business.

IHG’s franchise system is different from other hotel groups’. Would you explain those different characteristics?
First of all, there’s no difference at all in terms of services for customers whether it’s an IHG-managed hotel or a franchise. A franchised hotel counts on the same benefits that managed hotels do. In the case of franchised hotels, most of them work with their own staff, but according to IHG standard’s.

According to the scheduled expansion plan, you’ll try to gain business activity in Latin America and the Caribbean in the first place, and afterwards in the USA. Are you also responsible for business winning in the USA?
Both of them and also from a pan-regional point of view, within the Latin American area, to Latin America and from Latin America to the world.

What would be your main target country in Latin America?
I’ll be in charge of Central America, the Caribbean and Andean countries, and most of our hotels in that area are located in Colombia, Guatemala and Puerto Rico.

Panama is gaining momentum. The construction of mega-hotels there, such as the brand-new Hard Rock to open over a thousand rooms in Panama City, or Riu with its 430 rooms, will bring about a new type of business, how is IHG’s policy going to change to compete in those areas?
That’s kind of hard to answer. We also have mega-hotels and are already competing in most of those markets with big facilities. In cities such as Hong Kong, New York or Paris this big size works fine, but we have all sizes in the area.

In the Central American area, specifically Panama, where there’s a huge hotel growth, the introduction of Spanish groups is changing price and service policies. For instance, Riu hotel is a benchmark in that country, where it has changed the level of room prices, services and quality. Regarding to commercialization in the Latin market, how can IHG defend itself from policies implemented by this new hotel groups?
That’s also a hard one. You try to avoid starting a price war, not setting prices below the value of services. It’s crystal-clear that customers pay for what they believe they’ll receive. Obviously, we must be aware of what the competence does, but we have to strengthen what we do and do the best.