InterContinental Hotels Group is the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms.

InterContinental Hotels Group owns, manages, leases or franchises, through various subsidiaries, almost 3,600 hotels and 539,000 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, 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 programme, Priority Club Rewards, with over 27 million members worldwide.

climate for business

InterContinental Hotels Group has joined forces with Juanita Hotel Limited to open Holiday Inn Port Harcourt in Nigeria and will manage the new hotel, Holiday Inn Port Harcourt, which is scheduled for completion in 2006. The hotel will feature 80 rooms.

Africa is a key continent for InterContinental and the company will continue to seek opportunities to grow its portfolio across the area.

employment

One of the company's African franchisees, InterContinental Kigali in Rwanda, has been able to enhance the lives of many local people.

InterContinental Kigali encouraged the local community to apply for jobs across a range of departments, from bakery to reception and restaurants to laundry at hotel, which is based in Rwanda's capital. Rather than selections based on experience, the criteria was an ability to learn and a desire to deliver a service. The knowledge and skills of how to perform the role were subsequently taught through the project's training academy - where Rwandans who had never before seen a hotel were educated on how to operate one.

InterContinental Kigali employs around 150 employees, mostly local people. The aim is that over the next two years the hotel will increase the number of Rwandan employees, particularly those in senior management positions.

Additional community benefits included providing employees with their first bank accounts - which was particularly empowering for many female members of staff; and educating local producers of bread, fruit and vegetables on how to produce to five star specifications, so they could become suppliers to the hotel.

human development

ZimSun, an InterContinental Hotels Group Zimbabwean franchisee, has sponsored WorldVision to deliver a number of education programmes in Zimbabwe. In particular ZimSun sponsors a student at Mtshabezi High School and has committed to provide text and work books for Grade Ones at Capfuce Primary School.