ATLANTA -- August 1, 2002 marks the 50th anniversary of America's Hotel, Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts.

American entrepreneur Kemmons Wilson opened the first Holiday Inn hotel in 1952 in Memphis, Tennessee, after he returned from a family road trip discouraged over the lack of family and value-oriented lodging.

Over the past fifty years, Holiday Inn has retained those core ideals of family, value and entrepreneurial spirit and has grown to become the most recognized lodging brand in the world.

"Holiday Inn really set the standard for the hotel industry," said Greg Price, vice president of marketing for Holiday Inn. "Today, we have more than 1,600 hotels across the world, and more people stay at Holiday Inn every day than anywhere else."

At the first Holiday Inn hotel, children stayed free, and the hotel offered a swimming pool, air conditioning and restaurant at the property. Telephones, ice and free parking were standard as well. Although commonplace today, these services were revolutionary at the time and set a standard for the hotel industry and for every Holiday Inn hotel that would follow.

As a driving force in the evolution of American lodging, Holiday Inn has paved the way for many other firsts in the full-service hotel category it created. Holiday Inn was the first national hotel franchisee organization and the first hotel company to sell a franchise. In 1963, it became the first hotel company to be publicly traded. The brand was the first hotel to offer in-room air conditioning, free in-room television, a swimming pool and an on-site restaurant.

In a continuing effort to deliver a high standard in the midscale lodging category, Six Continents Hotels, the owner of the Holiday Inn brand, has allocated $250 million over the next five years to build 25 Holiday Inn hotels in a new prototype design. Groundbreaking on the first new prototype is expected to happen this fall.

Over the years, the Holiday Inn family has extended to include the Holiday Inn Select brand for business travelers and Holiday Inn SunSpree Resorts for family fun. In addition, Six Continents Hotels created new brands such as Holiday Inn Express, the fastest growing hotel brand over the last decade, as a limited-service hotel offering for value conscious travelers, and Staybridge Suites by Holiday Inn as an extended-stay lodging option.

On August 1, the Holiday Inn brand marks their 50th birthday by ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

Six Continents(TM) Hotels, the hotel business of Six Continents PLC of the United Kingdom (LON:SXC, NYSE:SXC)(ADRs), owns, manages, leases or franchises more than 3,270 hotels and 512,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world.

The following are some of the service marks owned by Six Continents Hotels, Inc., its subsidiaries or affiliates: Holiday Inn®, Crowne Plaza®, Express by Holiday Inn(TM), Holiday Inn Select®, Holiday Inn Garden Court?, Holiday Inn SunSpree® Resort, Staybridge Suites® by Holiday Inn, Holidex®, Priority Club®, Inter-Continental®, Forum®, Parkroyal®, and Centra®. Six Continents Club®, Six Continents(TM), and 6 Continents(TM) are service marks of Six Continents PLC and used under license.

Six Continents Hotels, Inc. offers information and reservations capability on the Internet - www.sixcontinentshotels.com, for Inter-Continental Hotels and Resorts, www.crowneplaza.com for Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts, www.holiday-inn.com for Holiday Inn hotels, for Express by Holiday Inn hotels, www.staybridge.com for Staybridge Suites by Holiday Inn, and www.priorityclub.com. For the latest news from Six Continents Hotels, visit our online Press Office at .

Virginia Bush
770/604-2037
IHG