• Partnering with Yanlord Land Group to drive unique guest experience in China's most popular resort destination
  • The Crowne Plaza and Hotel Indigo complex creates a completely new development concept

Shanghai – IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group), the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms, has signed a two-brand hotel management contact with Yanlord Land Group Limited (Yanlord Land Group) today, to further strengthen its leadership position in Sanya, one of the China's most popular resort destinations. This signing also marks a strategic step of both companies into the newly developed Haitang Bay in Sanya. The new Crowne Plaza Sanya Haitang Bay and Hotel Indigo Sanya Haitang Bay complex, to open in 2014, creates a completely new development concept.

The 54-room Hotel Indigo Sanya Haitang Bay is the first Hotel Indigo property to open in a resort location in China. Hotel Indigo is the industry's first branded boutique hotel, offering upscale travellers an enriching local neighborhood lodging experience. The 420-room Crowne Plaza Sanya Haitang Bay, will offer premium accommodation and meeting facilities for discerning travellers pursue either leisure or business purpose. Crowne Plaza is one of the fastest-growing upscale hotel brands in Asia Pacific and has the most hotels in the development pipeline of any upscale brand globally. The new development of both hotels is an impressive complex that will meet both the demands of MICE market and the emerging growth of leisure tourism.

Yanlord Land Group is a leading real estate developer in China focuses on high-end residential, commercial and integrated property projects in strategically selected key high-growth cities across the country. This partnership is a win-win strategic move for both IHG and Yanlord Land Group and will further reinforce IHG's position in China's growth markets, leading the trend for resort development in the hotel industry.

Keith Barr, chief executive officer, IHG Greater China, says: "I truly believe that the reason we have gained our owners' trust and confidence in China is because they love our brands, trust our extensive network, and more importantly appreciate the financial returns we have been delivering to our partners for almost three decades. One of our strategies to continue and even accelerate our quality growth in China is to partner with large scale and influential real estate developers like Yanlord Land Group."

Zhong Sheng Jian, chairman and chief executive officer of Yanlord Land, remarks: "We are glad to have joined with IHG again to develop hotels in China's emerging resorts destination. We have great confidence in IHG's competitive advantages, and value their brands, systemand management expertise to consistently deliver the best. hotel experience for guests from home and abroad."

Sanya has experienced significant growth in the past decade, and this growth momentum is expected to continue through the development of several new bays along east coast, of which Haitang Bay is the government's current focus. The number of arrivals of Chinese domestic tourists travelling within the country is expected to grow substantially. Sanya tourist arrivals reached nearly 7 million in 2009, more than double the number of 2003, which was 3 million.

Present in the China market since 1984, IHG has become a trusted partner for local owners through its successful operations and record-tracked financial return. IHG currently has 162 hotels open under five brands in over 50 cities – InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts and Holiday Inn Express – and nearly 150 hotels are in the development pipeline.

About IHG®

IHG Hotels & Resorts [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global hospitality company, with a purpose to provide True Hospitality for Good.

With a family of 17 hotel brands and IHG Rewards, one of the world's largest hotel loyalty programmes, IHG has over 6,000 open hotels in more than 100 countries, and a further 1,800 in the development pipeline.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding company and is incorporated and registered in England and Wales. Approximately 350,000 people work across IHG's hotels and corporate offices globally.

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