InterContinental Hotels Group launches ‘From the Heart’ to Drive Donations for Tsunami Survivors

InterContinental Hotels Group is launching a global Tsunami relief initiative, ‘From the Heart’, to drive donations for the survivors of the recent Tsunami tragedy in South Asia.

‘From the Heart’ kicks off on Valentine’s Day on 14 February 2005 and lasts for a week. During this period, participating hotels of InterContinental Hotels Group will be encouraging their guests to make a donation of US$2 or more per stay to UNICEF’s Tsunami relief funds. For each US$2 guest donation, participating hotels will match the amount with an equivalent contribution.

“Our hearts go out to the Tsunami survivors and we are committed to helping in every way we can. Since the disaster, we have received overwhelming response from our guests to help and contribute to the humanitarian needs of the disaster survivors. We believe we have a tremendous opportunity to reach out to guests staying at any of our 3,500 hotels for the much-needed funds,” said Mr A. Patrick Imbardelli, Managing Director, InterContinental Hotels Group, Asia Pacific. “Through this concerted worldwide effort, we hope to facilitate the collection of these contributions by providing our guests with another option to channel their donations. As hotel owners ourselves, we have started the ball rolling by pledging to match guest contributions at all hotels that we own globally.”

‘From the Heart’ has the potential to raise more than US$1 million to Tsunami relief donations. This initiative supports InterContinental Hotels Group’s ongoing community efforts towards UNICEF, which is the official global charity organization for the Group.

To date, InterContinental Hotels Group has raised more than US$420,000 through donations from employees, hotel owners, business partners and guests, including the Group’s own donation of US$125,000. In less than a month, Priority Club Rewards members around the world have contributed over 17 million reward points which will be converted to cash for donation.

The Group has also raised funds through voluntary payroll deduction within its global network of staff to assist hotel employees and their families who were affected by the tragedy. The funds will go towards helping employees rebuild their homes and pay for medical expenses as well as other essentials. Many of the Group’s hotels have also made individual efforts to support local fund raising activities towards the cause.

“We hope that our guests would join us in giving generously from our hearts as each contribution can make a big difference to the Tsunami survivors during their time of need,” added Mr Imbardelli.

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