InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) announces today a new relationship with
lastminute.com
. lastminute.com is the first major pan European partner to
be certified as a third party distributor of IHG’s more than 3,500
hotels worldwide. This agreement is an enhancement of the companies
existing relationship and comes as part of IHG’s industry leading
strategy of only working with online travel partners who conduct
business under set of customer care guidelines.

IHG announced in April that it would only work with certified third
party distributors that do not engage in confusing and potentially
unclear marketing practices, respect IHG’s trademarks, ensure
reservations are guaranteed through an automated and common
confirmation process and clearly present fees to consumers. Following
this, IHG announced in August the certification of Travelocity and
discontinued its relationship with Expedia.com and Hotels.com.

Peter Gowers, Executive Vice President, Global Brand Services for
IHG, commented: “IHG has led the hotel industry from day one on the
issue of customer care with guests who book rooms online. We took a
bold step in April stating that we will only work with third party
distributors who are willing to treat their customers with the same
high standards of customer care that we treat our own. lastminute.com
share this view and are a fantastic partner to work with in Europe
because of their broad product range which perfectly complements the
hotel offering.”

Brent Hoberman, CEO, lastminute.com, commenting, said: “This deal
further demonstrates how lastminute.com’s brand reach and
pan-European presence provide an excellent distribution channel for
suppliers such as IHG.  As the world’s largest hotel group, IHG
appreciates the added value lastminute.com can deliver with its
online facility for customers to tailor their own packages of hotels
with flights and entertainment - all this throughout Europe. This
year lastminute.com expects to sell over 6 million room nights
through its combined businesses.”
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