Crowne Plaza The Place To Meet in Queenstown

Crowne Plaza Establishes the Place To Meet in Queenstown, New Zealand

Crowne Plaza Queenstown to be launched in September 2005

New Zealand - 31 March 2005 - InterContinental Hotels Group and The Carter Group today announced that Parkroyal Queenstown will be launched as the Crowne Plaza Queenstown in September, following completion of the first stage of a multi-million dollar refurbishment. The hotel is to be the third Crowne Plaza in New Zealand, joining Crowne Plaza Christchurch and Crowne Plaza Auckland, and the 36th Crowne Plaza in the Asia Pacific region.

Queenstown, the adventure capital of New Zealand, is a key market for InterContinental Hotels Group's expansion in New Zealand. According to latest forecasts from Tourism Research Council of New Zealand, international visitor arrivals into New Zealand are expected to increase to 3.1 million in 2010, with Queenstown to receive an increasing share of the total. Crowne Plaza Queenstown will benefit from an increased demand for quality accommodation, and in turn add to the quality of Queenstown's overall visitor experience.

As one of the fastest growing hotel brands in Asia Pacific, Crowne Plaza is synonymous with the highest levels of service to travellers offering guests the opportunity to meet and relax in comfort in the centre of Queenstown's leisure and commercial offerings. Crowne Plaza Queenstown is testimony to the Group's strategy to establish its premium hotel brand in popular destinations preferred by conference and meeting planners. A review of latest trends and research, as well as recognition of the growing interest in Queenstown as a meetings venue, has led Carter Group and InterContinental Hotels Group to decide the former Parkroyal Queenstown will be re-launched as the Crowne Plaza Queenstown.

On the edge of Lake Wakatipu, Crowne Plaza Queenstown will feature extended, upgraded meeting facilities to satisfy the exacting demands of the meetings market. The new facilities will underscore Crowne Plaza's global positioning as The Place To Meet, offering the unique Meeting Success products and services catering specifically to meeting planners, delegates and facilitators. Meetings at Crowne Plaza Queenstown will be made easier with a dedicated Crowne Meetings Director, a Two Hour Response to all meeting enquiries, practical facilitator tools for meetings and innovative approaches to meetings, including food and beverage options such as Lunching In, Meet and Eat and Snack Attack.

"We are committed to extending our presence in New Zealand and the timing of the launch of Crowne Plaza Queenstown is perfect in light of New Zealand's tremendous growth as an international traveller destination. The hotel's premium upgraded accommodation and unique offerings will appeal to both leisure travellers and meeting/conference delegates, thus reaffirming that Crowne Plaza Queenstown will be The Place to Meet. Additionally, the 24 million members of our loyalty programme, Priority Club Rewards, will now be able to stay at another Crowne Plaza hotel - in Queenstown," said Phil Lee, Chief Operating Officer for Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific, InterContinental Hotels Group.

The Carter Group Principal, Philip Carter added: "Crowne Plaza Queenstown's prime location and stunning views of the lake and surrounding mountains, coupled with the refurbished facilities and Crowne Plaza meetings approach will increase the hotel's share of corporate meetings business. We're confident the strong brand and international appeal of Crowne Plaza will add significant value to the hotel."

InterContinental Hotels Group and The Carter Group established a joint venture in June 2004 to purchase Parkroyal Queenstown for NZ$20 million. The refurbishment programme will be jointly funded by the partners and undertaken in phases, with the first commencing in early April.

The soon-to-be-launched Crowne Plaza Queenstown features 139 guest rooms, meeting and function facilities and a restaurant and bar. It is situated right in the city centre and is ten minutes from Queenstown Airport, twenty minutes from the region's ski fields, and close to Queenstown's myriad of adventure activities.

InterContinental Hotels Group manages two other hotels owned by The Carter Group in New Zealand, namely Holiday Inn On Avon Christchurch and Holiday Inn City Centre Christchurch.

ENDS

For further information contact:

Bill Sheppard

Vice-President Operations/ New Zealand South Pacific

InterContinental Hotels Group

Ph: 021 722 881

Note to Editors:

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC of the United Kingdom [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] 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 534,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world. The Group owns a portfolio of well recognised and respected hotel brands including InterContinental(r) Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza(r) Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn(r) Hotels and Resorts, Express by Holiday Inn(r), Staybridge Suites(r), Candlewood Suites(r) and Hotel IndigoTM, and also manages the world's largest hotel loyalty programme, Priority Club(r) Rewards, with more than 24 million members worldwide. In addition to this, InterContinental Hotels Group has a controlling interest in Britvic, the second largest soft drinks manufacturer in the UK.

InterContinental Hotels Group offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at www.ichotelsgroup.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards programme at http://www.priorityclub.com/.

For the latest news from InterContinental Hotels Group, visit our online Press Office at http://www.ihgplc.com/media.

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