The IndeCorp business model, based on research by PricewaterhouseCoopers, will invite other independent brands to join the organization to increase operating scale, add revenues through savings and efficiencies, attract financing, aggregate capital for technology and achieve the critical mass needed by independents to compete in the global environment.  IndeCorp is designed to protect the vitality of the independent hotel and preserve strong, differentiated brands in the global marketplace.

�Independent hotels are faced with major and growing competitive challenges,� said Peter Cass, the President and CEO of Preferred Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. �IndeCorp will create and support the opportunity for individual hotels to join forces, while protecting and preserving their independence. They will collectively be able to share in the benefits provided by scale�a strategy necessary for the independent to survive.� Mr. Cass added, �We�re the first to apply this model to independent hotels.�

�IndeCorp will be a protector of the independent hotel, preserving the distinctive culture of choice and quality that consumers want,� said Peter Aeby, Chairman of the Board of Preferred Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. �It will also distinguish and promote brand strengths. Preferred, for example, would continue to operate as before with the highest standards in the industry.  What would change is that, because of sharing certain expenses, there would be more sales and marketing firepower to enhance consumer awareness and brand recognition for Preferred on a global basis,� Aeby added.

Each brand under the IndeCorp umbrella, including Preferred Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, will retain its own management practices and service and facility requirements. IndeCorp will function as a vehicle through which key operating functions such as strategic management, reservations, purchasing as well as customer relationship management (CRM) and e-commerce technologies are shared to realize the economies of scale that an independent brand could never achieve alone.

Mr. Cass underscored the danger of being lulled into a false sense of security by the current economic boom. �While we, and the luxury marketplace, have never been stronger, this is also a crucial time to prepare for the converging competitive and technological challenges that loom on the horizon. These range from the potential overbuilding of luxury properties to global hospitality consolidations, new infrastructure investments, including e-commerce and customer relationship management technologies, and cross-marketing strategies by multi-brand chain hotel companies, as well as unknown future economic prospects and growing consumer expectations. Make no mistake, over the next 10 years we will see an intense and far-reaching struggle between independent hotels and global management companies.�

The IndeCorp model is not only designed to manage multiple brands of independently owned and operated hotels and resorts, but also to provide distribution and customer relationship management services on a contractual basis to smaller management companies.  The new structure will preserve the traditions and culture of each brand and will also help to increase the amount of revenue available to individual brand sales and marketing functions.  The primary goal of the new strategy is to continue to generate increased revenue for brand members in the form of room night production.

Established more than 30 years ago, Preferred Hotels® & Resorts Worldwide is a global brand of more than 110 of the world�s finest independent luxury hotels and resorts. To qualify as a Preferred hotel or resort, each property must adhere to Preferred�s Standards of Excellence®, an exhaustive quality assurance program that includes an annual, third-party unannounced audit of 1,600 standards and practices. The rigorous approach to quality ensures that guests consistently enjoy the highest standards of personal service and hospitality. Preferred generated more than US $100 million in revenue for its hotels and resorts in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2000. Preferred�s 1999-2000 Member Value Index reports that member hotels and resorts received a US$7.71 return on investment for every US$1 paid to Preferred in fees.