21 October, 2014 IHG Names Deborah Woollard as Vice President for Human Resources in Asia, Middle East and Africa Region

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of the world's leading hotel companies, has announced the appointment of Deborah Woollard as Vice President (VP) of Human Resources for the Asia, Middle East & Africa (AMEA) region. She is a member of the AMEA Regional Operating Committee and based at IHG's regional head office in Singapore.

Deborah is responsible for shaping and delivering human resources strategies to support the company's business plans and objectives in the region. In her role, she will lead the company's talent management programme to identify, recruit and retain key talent. She will also drive the training and development strategy for the company's leadership team to ensure IHG continues to have the right talent to deliver its strategy in AMEA.

Deborah joins IHG with more than 15 years in human resources. Prior to this, she was with Abbott Laboratories, overseeing regions spanning Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and looking after key emerging markets such as Russia, India and China. Deborah began her career with Unilever where she spent more than ten years building her career in talent development and HR. She has lived and worked in London, Australia and Singapore, where she has now resided for nearly seven years.

Jan Smits, Chief Executive, Asia, Middle East & Africa, IHGsaid: "We operate in a very competitive environment today, and being in the service industry it is absolutely critical to our growth that we hire the right people, and retain them. With Deborah's strong background in HR and her experience working across our markets, we believe she will bring a fresh perspective to our team and help us stand out as the preferred employer in the industry."

Commenting on her appointment, Deborahsaid, "As one of the largest hotel companies in the world, IHG's strong leadership team and high level of employee engagement are well recognised amongst the industry. With its ambitious plans to grow its talent pool by over 50 percent by next year, there is immense growth potential for talent development and I look forward to working with the dynamic team at IHG to grow its reputation as the preferred company to work for."

Deborah succeeds Zareena Brown, who has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Talent and Leadership Development, IHG.

IHG has 246 properties open across five brands in Asia, Middle East and Africa: InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Expressand Staybridge Suites, with another 137 properties in its development pipeline. The company currently hires more than 39,000 people in the region and are looking to fill another 20,000 positions by 2015.

Notes to Editors:

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

IHG manages IHG® Rewards Club, the world's first and largest hotel loyalty programme with over 82 million members worldwide. The programme was relaunched in July 2013, offering enhanced benefits for members including free internet across all hotels, globally.

IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns over 4,700 hotels and 697,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries, with almost 1,200 hotels in its development pipeline.

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

isit 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, www.twitter.com/ihg,www.facebook.com/ihg or www.youtube.com/ihgplc.

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