11 March 2011 Japan Earthquake: IHG media update

By: InterContinental Hotels Group | 5 Shares 146 Reads

March 14, 2011 // Franchising.com // We are keeping close to the developments following the March 11 earthquake and our thoughts remain with the people of Japan. Our guests and employees are our priority and we can confirm they are all well and accounted for.

At ANA Holiday Inn Sendai, following the full evacuation of all 120 guests as of 11 March, only two guests remain in our care at the hotel's temporary evacuation centre set up at public areas of the hotel.

The hotel is still experiencing disruption to utility services. We are working closely with the local authorities to reinstate supply. ANA Holiday Inn Sendai remains closed to new bookings until full utility services and access to other essentials have been restored. We will keep the public informed when normal operations resume and the hotel is ready to reopen.

In a bid to conserve power, rolling outages have been scheduled across the Tokyo metropolitan area and northern part of Japan starting today. We have advised all our hotels in these areas to follow the government's recommendations to minimise electricity usage, without impacting safety of our guests and employees. In some instances, this may involve hotels suspending normal services and operations for the duration of the power outage.

Travel to Japan may be challenging at this time. Travellers should refer to advisories provided by relevant agencies.

Guests seeking clarity on existing reservations or future bookings may call our Central Reservations Office at 0120-677-651. Cancellation fees for hotel bookings are currently being waived.

IHG in Japan: 37 Hotels (11,124 rooms) 2 Hotels in pipeline

Notes to Editors:

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms. IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns, through various subsidiaries, over 4,400 hotels and more than 640,000 guest rooms in 100 countries and territories around the world. The Group owns a portfolio of well recognised 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 programme, Priority Club® Rewards with 56 million members worldwide.

IHG has almost 1,300 hotels in its development pipeline, which is expected to 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.

IHG offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at www.ihg.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards programme at www.priorityclub.com. For our latest news visit www.ihg.com/media, Twitter www.twitter.com/ihgplc or YouTube www.youtube.com/ihgplc.