15 July 2009
InterContinental Hotels & Resorts and National Geographic extend partnership to include global geotourism initiatives
- 60,000 InterContinental employees to participate in responsible business workshops
- Responsible business advisory board to be established to steer new initiatives
London, 15 July 2009 - InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, the world's first truly global hotel brand, and the National Geographic Society have extended their partnership to include global geotourism initiatives that enrich the understanding of environmental and cultural responsibility among InterContinental associates and guests worldwide.
Throughout 2009, more than 60,000 InterContinental associates worldwide will participate in responsible business workshops to enhance their understanding of how they can personally be involved in some of the initiatives. InterContinental and National Geographic will also establish a responsible business advisory board, made up of senior executives from both organizations and hotel general managers.
National Geographic defines geotourism as "tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place - its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage and the well-being of its residents." The InterContinental initiatives supported by National Geographic will harness the passion of the hotel general managers and their teams to help sustain and enhance the geographical character of destinations where InterContinental is present.
To kick off the partnership, InterContinental has adopted five principles that will enhance its hotels' ongoing environmental and cultural sustainability efforts and help identify new projects. The five principles are inspired by National Geographic's Geotourism Code of Good Practice, ensuring efforts that focus on integrity of place, destination appeal, community involvement, sharing success stories and minimizing negative environmental and cultural impacts.
Willard InterContinental Washington DC was recently awarded the International Hotel & Restaurant Association's Environmental Award for Sustainability. The hotel is powered 100% by wind energy, and regularly cleans and maintains the nearby Pershing Park (shown in image) which it adopts.
Vanessa Healey, Vice President, Global Marketing, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, said: "Across all our hotels worldwide, InterContinental is committed to connecting our well-travelled guests to what's special about a destination. We have always believed that we have a responsibility to respect the nature, heritage and communities our hotels reside in, so that future generations of travellers continue to enjoy what is unique to each destination. Working with National Geographic, we hope that our associates and our guests will be personally enriched, knowing they have played a small part in protecting and preserving all that is authentic and special about the places where we are located."
Jonathan Tourtellot, Director of the National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations (CSD) and creator of the geotourism concept, said: "CSD is dedicated to protecting the world's distinctive places through wisely managed tourism and enlightened destination stewardship. We work closely with many allied organizations to develop and disseminate information on how tourism businesses, destination communities and travellers can help protect the character of these great places - their culture, natural habitats, architecture, scenery, even local cuisine. We look forward to working with InterContinental to create actionable tools that do that - locally, regionally and globally."
InterContinental and National Geographic's affiliation started in 2007 with two successful global photography competitions, where guests and readers were invited to capture and share their authentic travel experiences. In 2008, InterContinental also sponsored National Geographic's All Roads Film Festival, which showcased inspiring films by indigenous film makers.
IHG has a new online tool called Green Engage, which helps hotel general managers manage energy consumption more effectively. In 2008, IHG also launched Innovation Hotel, an online example of what a future hotel might look like if it used new green technologies. Guests can provide feedback on which of these they feel are important, allowing IHG to consider how they can be implemented as part of the Green Engage programme. For more information in corporate responsibility at IHG, visit www.ihg.com/responsibility.
Contacts:
Charles Yap
InterContinental Hotels & Resorts
+44 (0) 7808 098 698
[email protected]
Barbara Moffet
National Geographic
+1 (202) 857-7756
[email protected]
Notes to Editors:
About InterContinental Hotels & Resorts
InterContinental Hotels & Resorts has 158 hotels, located in more than 60 countries with local insight that comes from over 60 years of experience. At InterContinental we believe that superior, understated service and outstanding facilities are important, but what makes us truly different is the genuine interest we show in our guests. Our desire is to help guests make the most of their time. We connect our well-travelled guests to what's special about a destination, by sharing our knowledge so they enjoy authentic experiences that will enrich their lives and broaden their outlook. For more information, visit http://www.intercontinental.com/ and http://www.intercontinentalvideo.com/.
About National Geographic
The National Geographic Society is one of the world's largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to "increase and diffuse geographic knowledge," the Society works to inspire people to care about the planet. It reaches more than 360 million people worldwide each month through its official journal, National Geographic, and other magazines; National Geographic Channel; television documentaries; music; radio; films; books; DVDs; maps; exhibitions; live events; school publishing programs; interactive media; and merchandise. National Geographic has funded more than 9,000 scientific research, conservation and exploration projects and supports an education program promoting geographic literacy.
Part of the Research, Conservation, and Exploration Division of National Geographic Mission Programs, the Center for Sustainable Destinations promotes geotourism as its core strategy for helping to protect the world's distinctive places through wisely managed tourism and enlightened destination stewardship. For more information, visit http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/sustainable/.
About IHG
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms. IHG owns, manages, leases or franchises, through various subsidiaries, over 4,200 hotels and more than 620,000 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® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites®, and also manages the world’s largest hotel loyalty programme, Priority Club® Rewards with 43 million members worldwide.
IHG has nearly 1,700 hotels in its development pipeline, which will create around 140,000 jobs worldwide over the next few years.
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group’s holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.
IHG offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at www.ihg.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards programme at www.priorityclub.com. For the latest news from IHG, visit our online Press Office at www.ihg.com/media