Crowne Plaza - 'The Place to Meet' is the first hotel brand to adopt Passkey brand-wide

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [Lon: IHG, NYSE: IHG], the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms, today announced that meeting planners booking group events at IHG hotels will be able to do so with greater ease and efficiency through a web-based group reservation solution provided by technology company Passkey. During 2008, IHG will implement the capability in over 250 hotels across the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts and Crowne Plaza brands in the U.S. and Canada, as well as in some select Holiday Inn hotels. read the full article, click here

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InterContinental Hotels, the world's largest hotelier, unveiled a steady set of interim results as it continues its transformation from a hotel owner into a manager of high-end hotel brands.

The group, which operates the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn chains, has been selling off its properties, returning cash to shareholders and focusing on hotel management.



It has sold off 178 hotel properties since 2003, generating proceeds of £3bn. Since March 2004, the company has returned £3.45bn to shareholders.

InterContinental reported today that underlying operating profit rose by 5pc to £111m in the six months to June, as it was boosted by the strength of its brands in China.

However, profit before tax actually fell by 14pc to £130m due to the weakness of the dollar and the effect of a number of hotel disposals.

Andrew Cosslett, chief executive of InterContinental, said that the group has "had a good first half" and that the outlook was "positive" with a strong pipeline of new developments.

He said: "Strong demand with relatively low levels of new supply is driving up room rates and our brands continue to outperform the market in most of our major regions and geographies."

Mark Reed, an analyst at Landsbanki, said that InterContinental's results were "broadly in line with guidance".

He added: "The group was held back by the 9pc weakening of the US dollar sterling rate, which is important given that around 70pc of profits are generated in the US."

InterContinental will pay an interim dividend of 5.7p per share, raised by 12pc since last year, on October 5.

Ellerman Corporation, the investment vehicle belonging to Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay, owners of the Telegraph Media Group, bought a 5pc holding in InterContinental in January and has since raised its stake to 10pc.

source: The Telegraph

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InterContinental Hotels Group (IHT) is well on track to open 125 outlets in China by the end of 2008, Hilton Hotels has teamed with Rreef, the property arm of Deutsche Bank and private equity firm H&Q Asia Pacific, to develop 25 hotels at a cost of £272 million, while French hotels group Accor plans to open 80 hotels in the country over the next two years.

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InterContinental Hotels Group said on Wednesday it now expected to exceed its three year plan to open 50,000 to 60,000 additional rooms by the end of 2008, signing up nearly 22,631 extra rooms during the first quarter of the year, a 25 per cent increase over the signings achieved in the same period of 2006.

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nterContinental Hotels and Resorts, which has been operating in India for the past 40 years with brand names —- InterContinental Hotels and Resorts (luxury brand), Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts (upscale brand) and Holiday Inn (mid-scale brand) — plans to bring in its another hotel brand, Holiday Inn Express, to India.

Holiday Inn Express is one of the fastest growing brands, opening on an average two hotels a week.


“We may introduce our Holiday Inn Express brand in India in future,” said Paul Logan, VP, development, Southern Asia and Singapore.

The group is also looking at expanding its Holiday Inn brand in India.

“We have great opportunities for Holiday Inn brands in tier-I and tier-II cities,” said Logan.

The group, which has only one Crowne Plaza Hotel in India so far (in New Delhi), will be announcing plans for three more Crowne Plaza hotels in the country shortly.

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Karan Khiani, assistant F&B manager at Hotel InterContinental, Marine Drive, Mumbai, speaks with Neeti Mehra about F&B trends in India... click here to know more

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