InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) announces worldwide brand relaunch of Holiday Inn

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) today announces a worldwide relaunch of the Holiday Inn brand family, comprising Holiday Inn, Express by Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express (’Holiday Inn’).

All Holiday Inn hotels will be required to implement the relaunch programme, focused on delivering consistently best in class service and physical quality levels, including a redesigned welcome experience, signature bedding and bathroom products. Redesigned brand signage will be installed at hotels once they have implemented the relaunch programme. This will give Holiday Inn a refreshed and contemporary brand image. All Holiday Inn hotels open or under development are expected to have implemented the relaunch programme by the end of 2010, with the first due to open in spring 2008 in the US.

Established in 1952, Holiday Inn is one of the world’s most recognised hotel brands with over 400,000 rooms (3,125 hotels) open and a development pipeline of more than 110,000 rooms (942 hotels). This development pipeline continues to grow rapidly, with over 16,000 rooms signed in the third quarter of 2007, a 6% increase on Q3 2006. Further details of Holiday Inn signings, openings and removals since 2001 are available at www.ihgplc.com/holidayinnsignings.pdf.

IHG expects the relaunch programme to allow Holiday Inn hotels to generate significantly higher revenue per available room (RevPAR), and generate an enhanced return on investment for their owners. Owners and franchisees will invest up to $1billion over a three year period in total to carry out the brand relaunch to meet the required service and quality levels.

IHG will make a non recurring revenue investment of up to £30m to accelerate implementation of the relaunch. This cost is anticipated to be accounted for as an exceptional item. This investment will, inter alia, fund a proportion of the cost of signage conversion at recently opened Holiday Inn hotels that agree to fully implement the relaunch programme during 2008, and fund the relaunch programme at certain high profile hotels that will be used to showcase the brand. IHG expects to generate a strong return on this investment through RevPAR increases across the Holiday Inn brand family following completion of the relaunch.

Announcing this to an audience of over 4,500 hotels owners, managers and investors at IHG’s annual Americas conference in Dallas, Chief Executive Andrew Cosslett, said:

“This is an important moment in Holiday Inn’s history. The brand is the largest and one of the most successful in the hotel industry and its relaunch will ensure that this position is maintained. We have spent a considerable amount of time getting the facts and the insights to enable us to make these changes, in partnership with our owners. The Holiday Inn sign is seen by hundreds of millions of people every day around the world. The changes we are making will ensure the Holiday Inn brand goes forward into the future with a strong and confident new image. We want our guests to get as much enjoyment from Holiday Inn hotels over the next 50 years as they have over the last 50.”

Rick Takach Jr., Chairman of the International Association of Holiday Inn (“IAHI”) representing nearly 3,000 of IHG’s hotel owners and operators, added:

“Holiday Inn is a legend in the hotel industry. It has a proud history, and IHG is now demonstrating its commitment to keep the brand fresh in the minds of both hotel owners and guests with its renewed focus on quality and innovation. The IAHI strongly supports this development and looks forward to the business improvement it will deliver.”