[Bapun Raz]

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has launched iPhone booking apps for each of its seven brands – InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. According to a company release, these new apps provide customers with the functionality to find and book hotel rooms, check rates, and view or cancel reservations. The new apps include location aware capabilities to assist guests in booking hotels close to their location and navigating to the property.

In just over a year, IHG has seen a nearly a thousand percent increase in room night bookings from mobile devices. In the first five months of 2011, IHG has already surpassed its 2010 total number of room night bookings from mobile devices. Most guests – 65 percent – who book through a mobile device, stay at IHG hotels the same night or within one day.

Michael Menis, Vice-President, Web and Interactive Marketing, IHG said, “Our initial iPhone efforts were targeted at our Priority Club Rewards programme, currently totalling 58 million members, and because our seven brands are at the heart of our business, we are building on that initial success by expanding our iPhone solutions to include apps for each of our seven brands.”
http://www.travelbizmonitor.com/intercon...apps-13817