Hong Kong is set to benefit from more tourists from the Middle East as more Arab visitors travel outside their traditional holiday playgrounds of London, New York and Paris with hotels such as InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong ready to capitalize on this new market by introducing new services.

Home to Designer Shopping & Culture -: During the hot summer months of July and August, guests from the UAE, Saudi Arabia escape the blistering heat to cities that offer good designer shopping, cultural sights, good halal food and entertainment. Hong Kong Tourism Board has indeed placed valuable marketing dollars in developing this market and InterContinental Grand Stanford has followed suit.

First Hotel to Offer Halal in All Restaurants -: This summer, InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong will become the first property in the city to offer halal dishes prepared to traditional recipes alongside its traditional non-halal menu in its restaurants including Cantonese and Italian.

A guest executive sous chef from InterContinental The Regency Bahrain has been specially drafted in to introduce Middle East cuisine to local diners and attract more visitors from the Middle East region to select InterContinental Grand Stanford in July and August.

Chef Mohammed Samara who cooks regularly for the Prime Minister of the Gulf state will prepare an extensive buffet selection at Caf� Rendezvous while overseeing the preparation of selected dishes in The Mistral Italian Restaurant and Hoi King Heen Cantonese Restaurant.

Middle East Specific Services -: Meanwhile, prayer mats and compasses are available for guests for religious purposes and Arabic-speaking guest relations staff have been hired to cater to these new guests.

Peter Pollmeier, General Manager of InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong said: �We saw this market develop in 2006 with quite a large number of guests from the Middle East coming in over the summer. This year, we decided to support this market and provide all that they need to make their stay in Hong Kong an enjoyable stay.�

�Hong Kong has everything that London and New York offers � designer shopping, fabulous scenery, world class services, and superb sightseeing in a very safe environment � it�s a big draw for families and business travellers alike.� he added.

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Notes to Editors: InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG) of the United Kingdom [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms. IHG owns, manages, leases or franchises, through various subsidiaries, over 3,700 hotels and more than 558,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world. IHG 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 33 million members worldwide.

The company pioneered the travel industry�s first collaborative response to environmental issues as founder of the International Hotels and Environment Initiative (IHEI). The IHEI formed the foundations of the Tourism Partnership launched by the International Business Leaders Forum in 2004, of which IHG is still a member today. The environment and local communities remain at the heart of IHG�s global corporate responsibility focus.

IHG offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at www.ihg.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards programme at www.priorityclub.com. For the latest news from IHG, visit our online Press Office at www.ihg.com/media.