IHG Hotels & Resorts has appointed a new chief development officer for the Americas.
The hotel company named Mark Sergot, most recently IHG’s senior vice president of global sales, to the position. The appointment comes after Julienne Smith departed the CDO role last year.
In his new position, Sergot will lead IHG’s Americas Development organization, including its current leadership team, “spearheading the region’s growth strategy” across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a Thursday release.
Sergot is tasked with driving growth of IHG’s hotel deal pipeline across its luxury and lifestyle, premium, essentials and suites portfolios, per the company.
2026 is expected to be a big year for IHG’s premium urban lifestyle brand Ruby Hotels, in particular, Kevin Schramm, IHG’s senior vice president of mainstream brands in the U.S. & Canada, told Hotel Dive last month. The recently acquired German-based lifestyle brand became available in the U.S. in September.
“Our initial conversations with potential owners have gone well, and they recognize how the unique designs and ‘premium at a lower price point’ guest offerings that have allowed Ruby to thrive in Europe can cross over here,” Schramm said, also sharing several top hotel development trends to watch in 2026.
Amid that growth, Sergot’s “enterprise‑wide mindset and career hospitality experience will be an asset to [IHG’s] Americas growth strategy and ambition,” Jolyon Bulley, IHG’s CEO for the Americas, said in the release.
“Mark is a proven commercial and sales leader whose analytical rigor, disciplined approach to talent, and success building high‑value customer relationships has transformed our Global Sales organization,” Bulley added.
Sergot has more than 25 years of sales leadership experience across global hospitality organizations. Before joining IHG in 2020, he served as chief sales officer at Associated Luxury Hotels International and held various executive positions at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, according to his LinkedIn.
Sergot’s appointment comes days after IHG named global technology executive Wei Manfredi as senior vice president of AI and architecture.
