3 May, 2007
IHG's Hotel Management Group launches new environmental initiative for a cleaner, brighter future
ATLANTA (May 3, 2007) - IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [Lon: IHG; NYSE: IHG (ADRs)], the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms, announced today that The Hotel Management Group, the company's Americas Operations division, will launch a new environmental initiative to replace over 250,000 incandescent light bulbs with new energy-efficient compact fluorescent lights (CFL) in guest rooms at over 200 company-managed hotels across the Americas. This is the first of several new environmental programs, both global and regional, that the company is scheduled to introduce throughout 2007.
According to Energy Star®, a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy, a CFL's lifespan is up to 10 times longer and uses 2/3 less energy than incandescent light bulbs. IHG's program will result in an annual reduction of almost 50 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, which is the equivalent of removing over 17,000 cars from American highways. From a cost perspective, the typical savings per CFL is at least $30 over its lifetime. The incandescent light bulbs will be changed over to CFLs within one year. Over the course of the year, an additional 15,000 CFLs will be distributed to employees of IHG's company-managed properties for use in their homes so that they have the opportunity to adopt the same practice being implemented at hotels.
The program is a part of The Hotel Management Group's "Chase The Extraordinary" road tour during which IHG executives will visit company-managed hotels and rally employees around new initiatives slated for 2007, of which the light bulb changeover is the lead effort.
"Chase the Extraordinary is our pledge to go beyond what is ordinary or usual by implementing best practices and innovative initiatives for our guests, owners and communities," said Tom Murray, chief operating officer, the Americas, IHG. "Replacing the old incandescent light bulbs in hotels with energy-efficient longer-lasting CFLs is an important step in doing our part to respect and improve our environment while at the same time improve our profitability."
In keeping with the tour's environmental theme, a 2007 Ford Escape Hybrid will be driven by the group of executives who will include Tom Murray, chief operating officer, the Americas and Alvaro Diago, area president - Latin America.
The tour, which will reach over 30 states and 12 countries, launched from IHG's Americas region headquarters in Atlanta on May 1 and will conclude at IHG's annual Americas Investors & Leadership Conference in Dallas on Oct. 23.
IHG is partnering with TCP, Inc., on the new environmental initiative. TCP, Inc., an industry-leading lighting innovator and manufacturer of energy-efficient CFLs, is based in Ohio.
Media Contact:
Stephen Boggs, IHG, stephen.boggs@ihg.com, 770.604.5793
Note to Editors:
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC of the United Kingdom [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms. InterContinental Hotels Group owns, manages, leases or franchises, through various subsidiaries, over 3,700 hotels and 556,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world. The 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 manages the world's largest hotel loyalty program, Priority Club® Rewards with over 31 million members worldwide.
InterContinental Hotels Group offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at http://www.ihg.com/ and information for the Priority Club Rewards program at http://www.priorityclub.com/.
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