IHG Sets New Online Standard

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC
20 April 2004

InterContinental Hotels Group Takes bold ACTION TO address problems WITH onLINE
                             TRAVEL distributors


LONDON (April 20, 2004) - InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), the world's
largest and most global hotel company, is adopting a new standard for its
portfolio of brands, representing more than 3,500 hotels, for selling or
re-selling hotel room inventory via all online travel companies.  The new
standard becomes effective on 20 May 2004 and was unanimously endorsed on 16
April 2004 by the IAHI, the most established independent franchisee association
in the industry.

"The standard directly addresses a number of problems that IHG's guests and
hotel owners are experiencing with some online travel companies.  We have been
discussing these problems for some time and believe several distributors are
working hard to alleviate the situation.  However, it is important that we
ensure the business practices of all our online distribution partners are in
line with our core values," stated Peter Gowers, executive vice president Global
Brand Services.

The new standard commits IHG to working only with distributors and their
affiliates who do not engage in confusing and potentially unclear marketing
practices, who clearly present taxes and fees to consumers, who respect IHG's
trademarks, and who ensure reservations are guaranteed through an automated and
common confirmation process. The new standard also ensures that hotel owners are
able to provide the best available rate, realise efficiency gains from the
Internet which they can reinvest in their properties, and better manage
inventory.



Significant Consumer Problems

Confusing and potentially unclear marketing practices

The rapid adoption of the Internet for travel booking has led to the rise of
some potentially confusing and unclear practices.

•    Customers who go to an online distributor's website to find a hotel
     may see a hotel listed as 'Sold Out' when that hotel actually has rooms to 
     sell.

•    Customers may be lured to a site with the promise of huge discounts on
     recognised hotel brands, which may not exist in any meaningful quantity.

•    Customers searching for a specific hotel brand can be diverted to
     another website without their knowledge or consent.


IHG will only work with distributors and their affiliates who are committed not
to engage in any of these types of practices.


Unclear presentation of taxes and fees
When booking a hotel room on some distributors' websites, a guest may see a
charge for 'taxes and fees' added to the room rate. In many cases, it is not
made clear to the guest what proportion of this charge is for taxes, and what is
for service fees imposed by the distributor.  This means that a large part of
the 'taxes and fees' line may often, in fact, be fees retained by the
distributor, although many guests may be unaware of this. It also leads to
problems for hotel owners and distributors in determining the appropriate
taxation basis on the amount remitted by the distributor to the hotel.

IHG will only work with distributors who commit to showing clearly all guest
charges and to helping hotels directly address the question of the appropriate
taxation basis.



Antiquated and unreliable booking processes
Despite the hi-tech nature of the Internet, it is surprising that some of the
third party sites still use manual and inefficient booking processes. Consumers
can make reservations on a distributor's website, but those reservations are
often ultimately transmitted to the hotel via a fax or other process that then
must be manually re-entered into the hotel's reservation system. This leads to
the potential for lost reservations, reduces consumers' confidence that their
booking is secure, and increases operational costs for hotel owners.

IHG will only work with distributors who either already have automated the
booking, payment, and settlement processes or are committed to automating the
processes in a short period of time.



Increasingly Unattractive Business Model for Hotel Owners
Hard for hotel owners to offer the best rate available
Current online distribution models make it difficult for hotels to offer the
best rate available. In some cases, hotels don't have the ability to set their
room prices on third party sites, making it unnecessarily difficult for a hotel
to ensure that it stays in compliance with IHG's Lowest Internet Rate Guarantee.

IHG will only work with distributors and their affiliates who commit to work
with hotels to comply with IHG's best rate available promise.



Hotel owners unable to respond to supply and demand
Under the existing model, hotel owners are unable to make real-time choices on
controlling rooms available for sale, taking into account demand levels,
customer buying patterns and channel costs.   Hotel owners often subsidise
inefficient distributors by being forced to keep open high cost channels when
demand is high.

IHG will only work with distributors and their affiliates who commit to allowing
hotel owners to respond to market supply and demand.



Internet efficiencies unrealised by hotels
The high cost of some current distribution channels prohibits efficiencies
gained from the Internet from being passed to hotels and consumers.  In fact,
some distributors are currently operating with 20-30 percent commission margins,
a level that far exceeds even 'traditional' offline travel agents.

IHG will only work with distributors who want to share Internet efficiency gains
with hotel owners and guests.

"We are committed to working with a wide variety of sales distribution channels,
" said Gowers.  "However, we are taking the stand that we will not have our
brands sold through distributors who refuse to solve these problems.  Customers
and hotel owners have a high degree of trust in our brands ... our reputation
and heritage is built on that trust."

Leroy Lail, chairman of the IAHI, stated, "We as hotel owners are fully in
support of this new standard.  It is a win-win for owners and guests alike."

InterContinental Hotels Group has always been an industry leader in e-commerce,
being the first company to offer online reservations in the industry.  IHG was
recently recognised by an Internet assessment performance company, Keynote
Systems, for having the fastest website

in the industry, and was voted the best international hotel website in the most
recent Freddie Awards (the most prestigious frequent traveller programme
awards).   IHG was the first company in the hotel industry to earn the TRUSTe
seal of approval for its online security and privacy protections.  Over 70
percent of InterContinental Hotels Group online reservations are currently
booked directly via its own websites, well above the industry average of 50
percent.  Bookings through third-party online distributors currently represent
less than two percent of room revenues for IHG's brands worldwide.



                                   -- ends --



IHG will be hosting a conference call for analysts today (20th April) at 2.00
p.m. UK time (9.00 a.m. EST) with Peter Gowers, EVP Global Brand Services,
Richard Solomons, Finance Director and Gavin Flynn, Head of Investor Relations,
to outline our position and answer any questions you might have. Dial in details
are as follows:


UK:                 0845 245 3471
International:      [phone]


For further information please contact:

Dee Cayhill, Corporate Affairs         Tel: [phone]
Gavin Flynn, Investor Relations        Tel: [phone]


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 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(R) Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza(R)
Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn (R) Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express(R),
Staybridge Suites(R), Candlewood Suites(R), and Hotel Indigo TM 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 by Holiday Inn 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.






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