Crowne Plaza Alice Springs Solar Project, final install aerial photo

IHG has been recognised as the most environmentally and socially responsible hotelier in Australasia, after being awarded the inaugural Responsible Travel Management
Award (RTM) by the National Business Travel Association (NBTA).

Announcing the award at the Excellence Award Dinner during its annual Regional Business Travel Conference in Melbourne, the NBTA recognised IHG's corporate responsibility practices as the clear benchmark for sustainability in hotels in Australia
and New Zealand.

Citing the sheer depth and diversity of IHG's comprehensive corporate responsibility program in awarding the accolade, NBTA offered praise for the years of effort and
resources that have been committed to making IHG's hotels and business practices as environmentally sustainable and socially responsible as possible.

Of particular note were IHG's extensive efforts in providing training, employment and
community development opportunities for Indigenous Australians, as part of the company's broad corporate responsibility commitments.

"We've spent years changing the way we do business across every one of our InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn hotels, to cut the volume of natural resources being consumed - such as water and energy - and reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill, and find new ways to foster the social and economic development of the local communities we do business in," said IHG Australasia's director of corporate responsibility, Frank Hubbard.

"This process has required personal commitments at every level of the business, to get IHG to the point where it is starting to make a difference. It's required nothing less than fundamental shifts in how we run our hotels and engage with our communities, but the positive results of these efforts are more than worth the effort."

"Time and again, we've been able to prove that responsible business is good business - and receiving recognition for our commitment from major industry organisations like the NBTA certainly spurs us on," Frank said. IHG's environmental policies cover every area of the global business - from sustainable design, development and operation of hotels through to engagement of customers, colleagues and business partners.  Underpinning all this are proprietary systems and partnerships to monitor, benchmark and audit the environmental performance of every one of IHG's hotels.

The NBTA's inaugural Responsible Travel Management Award for Australasia was judged by a selection of NBTA Board members and independent experts in sustainability and climate change.