Rendezvous Hotels & Resorts International (�Rendezvous�) is stepping up its rapid Asia Pacific expansion, with the opening of a new regional development office in Bangkok, Thailand.

Focussing on Asia and the Middle East and opening in September 2008, the new office will initially be staffed by Rendezvous� Senior Vice President Development, Tony Balch, who relocates from Sydney.

�The new office is in direct response to the interest we are receiving from hotel owners, and is a further indication of Rendezvous� commitment to the expansion of our brands and the development of tourism in the Asia and Middle East regions,� said Rendezvous CEO Alan Featherby. �Rendezvous is in negotiations on a number of properties that fit well with the company�s expansion plans, and is targeting to have 30 hotels in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, India and the Middle East by 2011, with a total of 50 hotels by 2016.�

Rendezvous is a subsidiary of the Singaporean listed public company, The Straits Trading Company Limited. Rendezvous operates a total of 19 hotels, either existing or under construction, across six countries in the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions.

In addition to Rendezvous� 14 existing hotels and resorts in Australia, New Zealand, China and Singapore, a further five hotels are scheduled to open within the next 12 months. The first is the new Rendezvous Hotel Christchurch, New Zealand in December 2008, followed by The Marque Hotel Guilin, China (April 2009), Rendezvous Hotel Fujairah, U.A.E. (November 2009),The Marque Hotel Yu Garden Shanghai, China (July 2009) and Rendezvous Hotel Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (December 2009.)

Rendezvous Hotels International Pte Ltd is part of the Singapore listed company, The Straits Trading Company Limited. The Rendezvous Hotels & Resorts International group operates a total of 19 hotels, existing or under construction, in the Asia Pacific and Middle East: � Rendezvous Observation City Hotel Perth � Rendezvous Sanctuary Resort Broome � Rendezvous Allegra Hotel Adelaide � Rendezvous Hotel Melbourne � Rendezvous Stafford Hotel Sydney � Rendezvous Hotel Brisbane � Rendezvous Reef Resort Port Douglas � Rendezvous Hotel Singapore � Rendezvous Merry Hotel Shanghai � Rendezvous Hotel Auckland � Rendezvous Hotel Christchurch (opening 2008) � Rendezvous Hotel Kuala Lumpur (opening 2009) � Rendezvous Hotel Fujairah (opening 2009) � The Marque Hotel Brisbane � The Marque Hotel Sydney � The Marque Hotel Canberra � The Marque Hotel Perth � The Marque Hotel Guilin (opening 2009) � The Marque Hotel Yu Garden Shanghai (opening 2009)

For all media enquiries and hi-res images contact:

Michael Meade, RHI�s Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing � michaelmeade@rend.com.au or +61 2 9016 5909.