10 July, 2015

IHG® Rewards Club celebrates launch of new top membership level, Spire Elite

Steve McCurry has captured a series of photographs for IHG® Rewards Club to celebrate the launch of its new top membership level Spire Elite, introduced to recognise and reward its most loyal members

InterContinental Hotels Group IHG® today announces the name of IHG® Rewards Club's new top membership level, Spire Elite, introduced to recognise and reward its most loyal members. To celebrate the launch, world renowned travel photographer Steve McCurry - who is best known for his 1984 photographic portrait 'Afghan Girl' - has joined forces with the world's biggest hotel loyalty programme to capture how a moment of recognition is brought to life through three poignant photographs. Each photograph depicts that unique and treasured moment at which one person recognises another.

Starting this week, IHG Rewards Club will better reward its most loyal members, with the most relevant benefits, through the launch of Spire Elite. This comes following extensive research into what IHG Rewards Club members want from their loyalty programme, which identified the importance of recognition to members who want to feel rewarded for their loyalty. The introduction of Spire Elite now establishes recognition at the heart of the relationship IHG Rewards Club has with its members.

Commenting on the photographs he created for IHG Rewards Club, Steve McCurry said: "Photography is about searching for little moments that happen in the blink of an eye but can last a lifetime. Each one of these photographs captures how a moment of recognition can do just this. Like a photograph, recognition does not need translation or adaptation; its prominence is understood by everyone, everywhere".

Susanna Freer Epstein, SVP Customer Loyalty, IHG, added: "The feeling that you're recognised for being special is what IHG Rewards Club aims to deliver to with the launch of Spire Elite. It's our way of saying thank you to our most loyal members, who from today will benefit from ability to earn 100% extra bonus points on all qualifying stays across the IHG hotel portfolio - an industry first. This is just the start of a series of exciting enhancements we will be introducing to continue recognising and building rewarding relationships with our members."

The global research revealed that the key ways in which IHG Rewards Club members expect hospitality brands to show them recognition, are:

• Providing the chance to feel part of a special "club"
• Identifying a guest as someone unique, who is "not just a number"
• Remembering something about the individual; their likes, dislikes and preferences
• Providing a reward, a "thank you" for achieving something

From today, Spire Elite membership can be reached by earning 75,000 qualifying reward points or staying at an IHG hotel for 75 qualifying nights, over the course of a calendar year. Including the ability to earn 100% extra bonus points on qualifying stays, Spire Elite members will also be able to choose between receiving 25,000 points, or upgrading a friend or family member to Platinum.

The qualification requirements for all IHG Rewards Club membership levels have also been restructured to make it easier for members to be rewarded for their loyalty. From July, Club members will need to earn just 10,000 qualifying points or stay for 10 qualifying nights to be eligible for Gold membership. Gold members will need to earn 40,000 qualifying points or stay for 40 qualifying nights to reach Platinum membership.

As part of the launch of Spire Elite, IHG Rewards Club has relaunched its Rewarding Experiences Digital Hub (ihgrewardsclub.com/rewardingexperiences) to showcase the experiences available to IHG Rewards Club members all over the world and across all four IHG Rewards Club membership tiers.

Visit the Rewarding Experiences Digital Hub to find out more about Steve McCurry's exclusive photographs for IHG Rewards Club, more information about Spire Elite, and using IHG Rewards Club points to obtain rewards. Visit www.ihg.com for more information on the latest enhancements to the programme and to join the IHG Rewards Club.

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Enquiries

Jovana Lakcevic
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Mark Debenham
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Notes to Editors:

About Steve McCurry
Born in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Steve McCurry studied film at Pennsylvania State University, before going on to work for a local newspaper. After several years of freelance work, McCurry made his first of what would become many trips to India. Traveling with little more than a bag of clothes and another of film, he made his way across the subcontinent, exploring the country with his camera.

It was after several months of travel that he found himself crossing the border into Pakistan. There, he met a group of refugees from Afghanistan, who smuggled him across the border into their country, just as the Russian Invasion was closing the country to all western journalists. Emerging in traditional dress, with full beard and weather-worn features after weeks embedded with the Mujahedeen, McCurry brought the world the first images of the conflict in Afghanistan, putting a human face to the issue on every masthead.

Since then, McCurry has gone on to create stunning images over six continents and countless countries. His work spans conflicts, vanishing cultures, ancient traditions and contemporary culture alike - yet always retains the human element that made his celebrated image of the Afghan Girl such a powerful image.

McCurry has been recognized with some of the most prestigious awards in the industry, including the Robert Capa Gold Medal, National Press Photographers Award, and an unprecedented four first prize awards from the World Press Photo contest. The Minister of French Culture has also appointed McCurry a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters and most recently, the Royal Photographic Society in London awarded McCurry the Centenary Medal for Lifetime Achievement.

About the Spire Elite name
'Spire' is derived from the old English word 'spir' - a shoot or a stalk of grass standing out amongst the others. It is awe inspiring, exceptional and a symbol of prestige. It conveys a sense of dedication and an aspirational attitude: going above and beyond; the sky is the limit. The name connotes a strong sense of prestige, elevated stature, and worthiness of admiration, along with a sense of dedication and an aspirational attitude, which is in line with how IHG Rewards Club sees its most loyal members who would qualify for this tier.

Notes to Editors:
IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global organisation with a broad portfolio of hotel brands, including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, HUALUXE® Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, EVEN™ Hotels, Holiday Inn® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites®.
IHG manages IHG® Rewards Club, the world's first and largest hotel loyalty programme with nearly 86 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 more than 4,900 hotels and 720,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries, with more than 1,200 hotels in its development pipeline. Over 350,000 people work across IHG's hotels and corporate offices worldwide.
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

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