IHG to Introduce Managed Service Centre for Hotels in Russia and the CIS

MOSCOW, October 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Centre will drive operational excellence and consistency

IHG has announced plans to establish a managed service centre that will provide support services for its hotels as it grows Russia and the CIS.  

Once it is open (most likely around March 2013) the Moscow-based centre will enable IHG hotels to access specialised clustered (non-guest facing) services including sales and marketing, finance, IT and human resources.

IHG's VP Operations, Russia, Commonwealth of Independent States and Georgia, Robert Kennedy, said:  

"Our decision to establish such a centre underlines our commitment to growing in Russia and the rest of the CIS: one of IHG's priority markets.

"The managed service centre will be a bespoke offering for this region.  It will provide a dedicated, fully resourced office staffed to deliver essential specialised operational expertise for our future properties.

"The centre will reinforce our already compelling management offer to owners, an offer based on more than sixty years' of expertise with world-renowned brands and leading system delivery.

"The centre's focus will be to drive operational excellence and consistency, freeing up hotel staff to focus on delivering exceptional guest experiences.

"We have already talked about our ambition to have 100 hotels across Russia and the CIS open or in the pipeline by 2020.  We will continue to grow in Moscow and St. Petersburg while working with local investors to introduce managed and franchised hotels across the country, wherever there is a need for internationally branded hotels."

More About the Managed Service Centre

IHG managed service centre for Russia and the CIS will deliver services that are essential to hotel operations but require specialist expertise, including: accounting; reservations; sales and marketing; procurement/purchasing; revenue management; human resources, recruitment and training; IT; quality and compliance engineering.

The group plans to open the centre in March 2013. The centre's services will be offered to all properties in the group's pipeline.

IHG in Russia, Commonwealth of IndependentStates and Georgia

IHG has 13 hotels (3, 894 rooms) open in Russia, with another four hotels (1, 673 rooms) in the pipeline. Throughout the CIS IHG has five hotels (1,099 rooms) and two hotels (455 rooms) in the pipeline, which will open in the next three to five years.

Notes to Editors:

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global organisation with nine hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites®, Candlewood Suites®, as well as our two newest brands, EVEN™ Hotels and HUALUXE™ Hotels & Resorts. IHG also manages Priority Club® Rewards, the world's first and largest hotel loyalty programme with over 67 million members worldwide.

IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns over 4,500 hotels and more than 666,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories. With more than 1,000 hotels in its development pipeline, IHG expects to recruit around 90,000 people into additional roles across its estate over the next few years.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

Visit http://www.ihg.com for hotel information and reservations and http://www.priorityclub.com for more on Priority Club Rewards. For our latest news

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SOURCE IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group)