Background information for Asia Pacific based media:

Below you will find information regarding the IHG Foundation. The newly created Foundation will build on the company's previous program which focused primarily on disaster relief to include:

• Helping communities develop hospitality skills
• Ensuring support for those impacted by disasters
• Facilitating local community investment
• Protecting the environment

To give you some local context, in the Asia Pacific to date disaster relief and support has been activated seven times since 2011 aiding communities and IHG colleagues:

- Christchurch Earthquake 2011

- Japan Earthquake and Tsunami 2011

- Fiji Floods and Cyclone in 2012

- Japan Hiroshima landslide 2014

- Vanuatu Typhoon 2015

- Tahiti Floods 2015

In Australia, IHG works with key tourism education providers including the Beacon Foundation, a national not for profit organisation focusing on disadvantaged communities and areas of high youth disengagement and unemployment.  Relationships have also been forged with respected institutions such as Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School and The Hotel School Sydney in Australia and Pacific International Hotels Management School and Queenstown Resort College in New Zealand with a number of recruits now in supervisory or management level positions.

Initial beneficiaries of the Foundation (UK based) are listed below.  The grants process for regional beneficiaries across the globe is underway. 

IHG builds on commitment to Responsible Business practices with launch of IHG Foundation

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG®), one of the world's leading hotel companies, has today announced the launch of the IHG® Foundation, alongside details of its first beneficiaries. The IHG Foundation will run as an independent charity, and focus its activities on four key areas – helping communities to develop skills in hospitality, providing support for those impacted by disasters, facilitating local community investment and protecting the environment.

IHG has an established history of responsible business practices. The IHG Foundation will build on the hugely positive impact the company has driven through its award-winning corporate responsibility initiatives over a number of years. These include the pioneering IHG® Academy programme, a global collaboration between IHG hotels, local education providers and community organisations, which offers education and skills training in hospitality to local people. IHG Academy celebrated its 10th year in 2015 and now has more than 1,200 programmes operating in 68 countries.

IHG's successful group-wide sustainability programme, IHG Green Engage™ system continues to help hotels track, measure and report their carbon footprint, energy and water consumption. It became a global brand standard in 2015. IHG's disaster relief programme, IHG® Shelter in a Storm, has responded to 66 disasters in 26 countries since its launch in 2011, contributing both monetary donations and in-kind support to impacted communities around the world.

IHG Academy and the IHG Green Engage system will continue to be delivered in IHG's hotels. Disaster relief activity previously activated through IHG Shelter in a Storm will be incorporated into the IHG Foundation, to provide assistance to communities impacted by disasters on a broader scale.

Richard Solomons, Chief Executive Officer, IHG, commented: “We have a long-standing commitment to Responsible Business practices, which underpin our strategy and are brought to life through our leading corporate responsibility initiatives – IHG Academy, IHG Green Engage and IHG Shelter in a Storm.

“We are proud to launch the IHG Foundation as the latest evolution of this and are delighted by the diverse nature of its first grant recipients. They provide a powerful early sign of the positive impact the Foundation will deliver, helping to set the foundations for stronger, healthier, and more prosperous communities around the world.”

IHG Foundation – Initial Beneficiaries

The first wave of grant funding from the IHG Foundation will provide support to projects working across all four key areas of focus: hospitality skills development, disaster relief, local community investment and environmental sustainability.  These include CARE International UK; British Red Cross; Youth Career Initiative (YCI); Goodwill Industries International and The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT).  Further information about these beneficiaries can be found at www.ihgfoundation.com

For further information please contact:

Yvette Peverell yvette.peverell@ihg.com

Sophie Moll sophie.moll@ogilvy.com 

ABOUT THE IHG FOUNDATION

The IHG Foundation is a charity registered in England and Wales (registered no 1164791). The Foundation operates independently from, is not affiliated with, does not act for the commercial benefit of and (with the exception of arm's-length commercial agreements) is not otherwise connected to InterContinental Hotels Group PLC and its group of companies ('IHG').

The IHG Foundation will be funded through a variety of sources, including donations from IHG, fundraising events and donations from IHG® Rewards Club members.

The IHG Foundation adopts a targeted approach to grant funding focused on supporting a small number of beneficiaries. As a result, IHG Foundation does not accept speculative requests for funding.

For more information, visit: www.ihgfoundation.com

ABOUT IHG

IHG® (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global organisation with a broad portfolio of hotel brands, including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton® Hotels & Restaurants, HUALUXE® Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, EVEN™ Hotels, Holiday Inn® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites®.

IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns more than 5,000 hotels in nearly 100 countries, with more than 1,300 hotels in its development pipeline. IHG also manages IHG® Rewards Club, the world's first and largest hotel loyalty programme with more than 90 million members worldwide. 

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales. More than 350,000 people work across IHG's hotels and corporate offices globally.

Visit www.ihg.com for hotel information and reservations and www.ihgrewardsclub.com for more on IHG Rewards Club. For our latest news, visit: www.ihg.com/media and follow us on social media at: www.twitter.com/ihg, www.facebook.com/ihg and www.youtube.com/ihgplc.