Interview w/ Tom Seddon, Sr. VP, Americas Brand Performance, InterContinental - Hotels Group – Comments on IHG’s Bold Action to Address Problems with Online Distributors.
InterContinental Hotels Group, the originator of the lowest Internet rate guarantee, is taking steps to raise the standards for selling or re-selling hotel room inventory via all online travel companies. Their portfolio of brands represents more than 3,500 hotels and these standards become effective May 20, 2004. Tom Seddon joins us to discuss some of the problems that IHG and the industry as a whole are facing and what steps IHG is taking to raise the standards of online distribution.
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, AMERICAS BRAND PERFORMANCE
Tom Seddon is senior vice president, Americas brand performance, for InterContinental Hotels Group PLC of the United Kingdom (LON: IHG; NYSE: IHG [ADRs]), the world’s most global hotel company.
As senior vice president, Americas brand performance, Mr. Seddon is responsible for brand strategy including sales, marketing, revenue management and hotel performance support across all InterContinental Hotels Group properties.
Mr. Seddon most recently served as senior vice president, strategic services, where he was responsible for managing InterContinental Hotels Group’s distribution channels and relationship marketing programs on a global basis. Before assuming his role of senior vice president, strategic services, Mr. Seddon was vice president of marketing for Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts. Prior to that, Mr. Seddon served in a range of marketing, revenue management and technology positions after joining InterContinental Hotels Group in 1994. He led the teams that grew Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express revenues at two to three times the rate of their segment competitors. He also won several American Marketing Association Effie awards for success in growing the Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express businesses.
Before joining InterContinental Hotels Group, Mr. Seddon worked for Mercer Management Consulting and Motorola.
Mr. Seddon holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical and electronic engineering from the University of Bath in the United Kingdom.
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC of the United Kingdom is the world’s most global hotel company and the largest by number of rooms. InterContinental Hotels Group owns, manages, leases or franchises, through various subsidiaries, more than 3,500 hotels and 535,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world (www.ichotelsgroup.com). InterContinental Hotels Group owns a portfolio of well recognized and respected hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn ® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites®, Candlewood Suites® and Hotel Indigo®, and also has a controlling interest in Britvic, the second largest soft drinks manufacturer in the UK.
InterContinental Hotels Group offers information and reservations capability on the Internet -www.intercontinental.com for InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, www.crowneplaza.com for Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, www.holiday-inn.com for Holiday Inn hotels, www.hiexpress.com for Holiday Inn Express hotels, www.staybridge.com for Staybridge Suites hotels, and www.candlewoodsuites.com for Candlewood Suites, and for the Group’s rewards program, www.priorityclub.com.
For the latest news from InterContinental Hotels Group, visit our online Press Office at www.pressoffice.ihgplc.com.
Vicki Gordon
(770) 604-2284
IHG
