Holiday Inn owner accused of profiting from Uyghur ‘genocide’ as it expands operations in controversial Chinese region

May 9, 2025 | The Daily Mail

But recent research by the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) has shown that IHG, which is headquarted in Windsor, is currently operating four hotels in the area, with at least another 16 set to open in the coming years.

The UHRP report says that five international hotel chains, including IHG, Marriott and Hilton, are all operating in the XUAR.

IHG has hotels in areas administered by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), under targeted sanctions by the UK, US, Canada and the European Union for human rights violations.

The UHRP says that ‘many of the newly opened and planned hotels in East Turkistan are not only standard business accommodations located in major cities, but large luxury resorts designed to attract high-end travelers.’

In IHG’s case, this includes an InterContinental Hotel in Ghulja City later this year.

IHG were also accused of hosting state propaganda events and promoting state narratives of Uyghur identity, traditions, and culture.

The report says: ‘The presence alone of international hotel chains in a region undergoing crimes against humanity and genocide is morally indefensible.

‘By offering high-end accommodation and leisure spaces, international hotel chains contribute to a sanitised image of the region, one that directly serves Beijing’s propaganda objectives.’

Dr. Henryk Szadziewski, co-author of the report and Director of Research at the UHRP, added: ‘International hotel chains continue to operate and expand their hospitality businesses in a region where Uyghur families have been torn apart by internment, imprisonment, and forced labor.

‘By helping to portray the region as a normal travel destination, international hotel chains risk enabling the ongoing persecution of the Uyghur people.’ 

Read the full article: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14695385/Holiday-Inn-owner-accused-profiting-Uyghur-genocide-expands-operations-controversial-Chinese-region.html