IHG Americas Pipeline Grows 13% In First Half 2007

ATLANTA | As reported in the IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [Lon: IHG; NYSE: IHG (ADRs)], first half 2007 earnings (to June 30, 2007) stock exchange announcement issued Aug. 14, IHG, the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms, continued its impressive pipeline growth momentum. In the first half of 2007, IHG increased its global pipeline by more than 29,000 rooms, expanding the total number of rooms to over 187,000, an increase of 19 percent since the start of the year. The Americas region led the pipeline growth with the signing of over 32,000 rooms in this same time period. As of June 30, the region's pipeline had 1,129 hotels (119,370 rooms) representing room growth of 13 percent for the first half of the year.

"Our tremendous growth is being led by our Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express brands with more than 550 license agreements signed over the past 18 months," said Kirk Kinsell, chief development officer, the Americas, IHG and recently named president of the company's Europe, Middle East, and Africa region. "This growth continues to show the strength and leadership position of our Holiday Inn brand as we're signing an average of two deals per day globally."

The Holiday Inn brand continued its growth momentum with 238 hotels (nearly 30,000 rooms) in the Americas pipeline of which 231 are new build construction. The brand signed 51 license agreements in the first six months of 2007. Currently, there are 965 Holiday Inn hotels (more than 181,000 rooms) open in the Americas region, of which 21 are the new Holiday Inn prototype that was launched two years ago. In the past six months, four new Holiday Inn prototypes opened in cities including Battle Creek, Mich., Dumfries, Va., Beckley, W.Va., and Madison, Wis.

The growth of Holiday Inn Express, the fastest-growing hotel brand in the limited-service category, continues as it leads all IHG brands with 530 properties (46,216 rooms) in the Americas development pipeline, including 121 new signed license agreements in the first half of the year. During this same period, the brand opened 79 properties (nearly 7,000 rooms) in the Americas region in locations including Charlotte, N.C., Pittsburgh, Pa., Grand Rapids, Mich., Birmingham, Ala., and Salt Lake City, Utah. As of June 30, Holiday Inn Express had 1,555 hotels (over 128,500 rooms) open in the Americas region.

IHG's newest brand, Hotel Indigo, continued its strong growth during the first half of 2007. The industry's first branded boutique hotel in the lifestyle segment now has nine properties open and 57 hotels (nearly 9,000 rooms) under development. Properties currently open are located in Buffalo-Amherst, N.Y.; Ottawa, Canada; Scottsdale, Ariz.; Sarasota, Fla.; Dallas, Texas; Houston, Texas; Chicago, Ill. (2 properties); and Atlanta, Ga.

For the first half of 2007, Candlewood Suites signed 59 license agreements in the U.S. and increased its pipeline in the Americas to 171 hotels (15,292 rooms). The brand's first hotel outside the U.S. opened in downtown Montréal during the second quarter and is the industry's first mid-scale extended-stay hotel in that city. This is one of several properties the brand expects to develop in Canada over the next few years. In addition to another Candlewood Suites hotel approved for Toronto, Ontario, the brand is targeting key markets in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, along with further development in Ontario and Quebec.

The continued interest by developers in IHG's family of brands is further fueled by strong RevPAR performance as demonstrated in the first half of the year with an increase of 6.3 percent in the Americas region. InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express each outperformed their market segments in RevPAR.

IHG's proven hotel management capabilities have led to great success in attracting developers to utilize the company's Americas operations division, The Hotel Management Group. IHG's management portfolio consists of more than 200 hotels and nearly 44,000 rooms with another 19 hotels and over 4,200 rooms in the pipeline.

Additional information regarding growth of other IHG brands:

InterContinental Hotels & Resorts

The InterContinental Hotels & Resorts brand now has a global portfolio of 147 hotels (over 49,000 rooms) with 49 properties in the Americas. In addition, the brand's global pipeline remains strong as it stands at 50 properties (nearly 17,000 rooms) with seven in the Americas. During the first half of 2007, the brand opened the InterContinental Los Angeles Century City in January following a record 22-day conversion process of the Park Hyatt in Century City.

Crowne Plaza

The fastest growing U.S. upscale brand, Crowne Plaza, signed 15 hotels (over 3,800 rooms) in the Americas region in the first half of 2007. The brand now has 163 hotels open in the region with another 28 hotels in the pipeline. Highlights during the second quarter included the announcement of plans for the first Crowne Plaza property in Arkansas, laying the foundation stone for a new Crowne Plaza in Marina Mazatlan (Mexico), and opening the Crowne Plaza Miami-Kendall, Fla.

Staybridge Suites

The growth of Staybridge Suites remains strong with 119 hotels (nearly 13,000 rooms) in the Americas development pipeline. The Staybridge Suites brand announced plans for its first property in Manhattan which is expected to open during second quarter 2009. Additionally, the brand announced it will begin developing outside the Americas region and is planning to open 22 hotels across the U.K. within four years, the first of which will be a new hotel in Liverpool in early 2008. The brand now has 112 hotels (over 12,000 rooms) open.