Another notable achievement in June, IHG launched a Minority Franchise Development Program to attract African-American, Hispanic and Native American developers to its already diverse family of owners and operators of InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites and Hotel Indigo branded hotels in the U.S.

According to Jerome Miller, vice president and chief diversity officer, "Under the program, IHG will reduce the initial application fee to $10,000 and allow the property to retain usual royalty fees of five percent for the hotel's first 12 months. Plus, an IHG affiliate will provide hotel operations training on-site, operations mentoring for six months following the hotel's opening and management training to the hotel operator at no additional cost."

The 35 hotels opened during May and June 2004, include:

The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Minneapolis, Minn., with 257 rooms, just completed a several million dollar renovation and is located in the Twin Cities Airport area.

Nine Holiday Inn hotel openings:  Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, with 89 rooms; Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, with 120 rooms; Round Rock, Texas, with 91 rooms; Vail, Colo., with 115 rooms; Edison, N.J., with 184 rooms; Lockport, N.Y., with 95 rooms; Blacksburg, Va., with 148 rooms; Salem, Va., with 88 rooms and Port Washington, Wis., with 96 rooms.

Holiday Inn Express continued its momentum by opening 22 hotels: Plainfield, Conn., with 66 rooms; Thomasville, Ga., with 81 rooms; Elkhart, Ind., with 72 rooms; Lafayette, La., with 84 rooms; Auburn, Mass., with 113 rooms; Grand Rapids, Mich., with 79 rooms; Farmington, Mo., with 60 rooms; Durant, Okla., with 62 rooms; Astoria, Ore., with 78 rooms; West Middlesex, Pa., with 78 rooms; Alice, Texas, with 65 rooms; Gatesville, Texas, with 63 rooms; Houston, Texas, with 111 rooms; Pearland, Texas, with 58 rooms; Ashland, Va., with 115 rooms; Chesapeake, Va., with 90 rooms; Warrenton, Va., with 85 rooms; Winchester, Va., with 81 rooms; Solvang, Calif., with 82 rooms; Rochelle, Ill., with 80 rooms; Huntington, Ind., with 63 rooms and Fulton, Mo., with 63 rooms.

Staybridge Suites, an upscale extended-stay brand, opened two properties: its 75th property in Eatonton, N.J., with 131 rooms, and its 76th property in Aurora, Ill., with 148 rooms. The opening of the Eatontown, N.J. property marked a significant milestone in the brand's short history.  Staybridge Suites reached 75 hotels faster than any other extended-stay competitor in the upscale extended-stay segment. 

One of the newest IHG brands, Candlewood Suites, a mid-priced extended-stay brand, opened a 51-room property in Stevensville, Mich. 

The success of IHG, provides a solid foundation to drive brand value - with some of the strongest, most recognized brands in the industry: InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites and Hotel Indigo.

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.