Holiday Inn Worldwide Names Brand Presidents For Holiday Inn and Express Company Executives Craig Hunt and John Sweetwood Appointed to New Brand Leadership Roles

ATLANTA, April 30 / In a move to strengthen the company's focus on a brand-driven market approach, Holiday Inn Worldwide Chairman and CEO Thomas R. Oliver announced today that Craig H. Hunt has been named President, Holiday Inn Group, and John T. Sweetwood appointed President, Express/Leisure Group.

Both appointments are effective immediately and both Hunt and Sweetwood continue to report to Oliver as members of the Holiday Inn Worldwide Board of Directors. Hunt formerly was President - Americas Franchise Division, and Sweetwood was Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer.

"The highly competitive and rapidly moving dynamics of the lodging industry mean our company's success ultimately will be driven by our ability to create and support segment-leading brands," said Oliver. "Moving to a brand management structure allows us to specifically target segments of the traveling public, from on-the-go business travelers to vacationing families, with distinctive, focused brand messages."

Holiday Inn is the largest single hotel brand in the world, and enjoys unrivaled name recognition. Oliver added that the remarkable success of Holiday Inn Express in the limited-service category of the industry (surpassing 600 properties in six years) created the opportunity to establish a separate brand organization from the traditional full-service Holiday Inn brand.

The company established Crowne Plaza as a separate brand in the Americas in 1994 and efforts to complete that separation around the world are in progress. Thomas Arasi, currently President of Tishman Hotel Company, was named President, Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts last week and takes up that appointment on June 1.

Hunt is a 25-year veteran of the Holiday Inn organization, having served in a variety of operations and franchise positions during his career. Prior to his most recent role, Hunt served as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer - Company Managed Hotels (Americas), and later Executive Vice President - Worldwide Franchising. Prior to the purchase of the Holiday Inn brand by Bass PLC in 1990, Hunt was Senior Vice President and Managing Director for the U.S., Caribbean and Latin America Region for Holiday Inn International. He began his Holiday Inn career as a management trainee in the Holiday Inn - Leicester, England.

Sweetwood joined Holiday Inn Worldwide as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer in 1995, assuming responsibility for the company's worldwide marketing efforts. He led the 1996 selection of Fallon McElligott as the new advertising agency for the Holiday Inn brand, and launched the company's new advertising campaign supporting the systemwide modernization effort currently under way. He previously was Corporate Vice President and Director of Business Development for Continental Baking Company, Inc., a division of St. Louis-based Ralston Purina Company, and served in a variety of marketing management roles in the company's Eveready Battery and Pet Foods divisions. Under his leadership, Eveready developed and launched the "Energizer Bunny" advertising campaign, one of the most memorable and longest- running campaigns in history.

NOTE: Holiday Inn Worldwide, the hotel business of Bass PLC of the United Kingdom, operates or franchises more than 2,200 hotels and 380,000 guest rooms in more than 60 countries and territories. Holiday Inn is the world's largest single hotel brand; in September 1994, the company established Crowne Plaza as a separate brand in its Americas division.

The following service marks are owned by Holiday Inns, Inc., Bass International Holdings, N.V., their subsidiaries or affiliates: Holiday Inn(R), Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza(R), Crowne Plaza(R), Holiday Inn Express(R), Holiday Inn Select(sm), Holiday Inn Garden Court(sm), Holiday Inn SunSpree(R) Resorts, Holidex(R), Holidome(R), Priority Club(R), and Crowne Plaza Preferred(sm).

Holiday Inn Worldwide offers information and reservations capability on its pages on the World Wide Web of the Internet -- www.holiday-inn.com for Holiday Inn hotels and www.crowneplaza.com for Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts.