IHG Opens More Than One Hotel Every Day in 2009; A Record 439 Hotels Globally

Americas region opened 375 hotels and signed an additional 29,000 rooms into the largest pipeline in the industry

February 23, 2010 // Franchising.com // ATLANTA - Globally in 2009, IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [Lon: IHG; NYSE: IHG (ADRs)], the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms, opened a record 439 hotels (more than 55,000 rooms) creating 25,000 new jobs across its seven brands - InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites®.

As for the Americas region, the company continued its growth by adding 375 hotels (40,584 rooms) to its system with Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express contributing a combined total of 238 hotels with more than 22,500 rooms, driven primarily by the brand's relaunch activities. New Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels have opened throughout the Americas region with properties in markets such as New York, N.Y.; Los Angeles, Calif.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Pittsburg, Pa.; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Bogota, Colombia; and Prince Albert, Canada.

"Despite the current economic conditions that have impacted hotel development, we have continued our growth as we opened more than one hotel per day last year," said Angela Brav, chief operating officer, North America, IHG. "Our opening pace is a testament to the commitment of our owners and the advantage we have through our OnBoard program that puts a process in place so our hotels can open quickly and our owners can start to generate revenue for their businesses."

In addition, IHG signed 247 new license agreements totaling more than 29,000 rooms in the Americas in 2009 into the largest pipeline in the industry showing the value of IHG's brands in this market. Many of these hotels will open in the coming years and contribute to a system that reaches over 100 countries worldwide.

Outside of the United States, where IHG signed 216 hotels (24,930 rooms), the company continued strengthening its position in Canada, Mexico and Latin America with the signing of 13 hotels (1,360 rooms) in Mexico, nine hotels (1,690 rooms) in Canada, four hotels (571 rooms) in Brazil, three hotels (488 rooms), including an InterContinental Hotel, in Argentina, and one hotel each in El Salvador and Costa Rica. The company's pipeline in the Americas region is 1,073 hotels totaling 113,728 rooms.

"We signed new license agreements at a healthy pace across our portfolio in the Americas and globally despite the stagnant capital markets that make project financing difficult," said Jim Anhut, chief development officer, the Americas, IHG. "We are focused on building the right hotel, in the right location with the right owner and our diversified brand portfolio is perfectly positioned to deliver this strategy."

Crowne Plaza®, Hotel Indigo®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites® continued to expand across the Americas region:

• Crowne Plaza opened 20 hotels (5,408 rooms) and signed an additional 15 hotels (3,619 rooms) in the Americas. The brand opened hotels throughout the Americas region with properties in markets such as Anchorage, Alaska; Dallas, Texas; Tampa, Fla.; Cincinnati, Ohio and Monterrey, Mexico.
• During 2009, Hotel Indigo opened 12 hotels (1,422 rooms) and signed an additional 10 properties (1,228 rooms). The brand opened hotels throughout the Americas region with properties in markets such as New York, N.Y.; San Diego, Calif.; St. Louis, Mo; Toronto, Canada and San Jose, Costa Rica.
• IHG's extended-stay brands, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites, opened a combined total of 78 hotels with more than 7,500 rooms in the Americas. The brands, collectively, signed an additional 35 hotels with more than 3,100 rooms. Candlewood Suites opened hotels in markets such as New York, N.Y.; Houston, Texas; Portland, Ore.; and Indianapolis, Ind., while Staybridge Suites opened new hotels in Tuscan, Ariz.; San Antonio, Texas and Guadalajara, Mexico.

Notes to Editors:

InterContinental InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms. IHG owns, manages, leases or franchises, through various subsidiaries, over 4,400 hotels and more than 645,000 guest rooms in over 100 countries and territories around the world. The Group owns a portfolio of well recognized and respected hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites®, and also manages the world's largest hotel loyalty program, Priority Club® Rewards with 48 million members worldwide.

IHG has nearly 1,400 hotels in its development pipeline, which will create 160,000 jobs worldwide over the next few years.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

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