New Delhi, India, March 08, 2005 - InterGlobe Enterprises, India's leading travel and technology management company and Accor, the world's largest hotel and tourism enterprise , today entered into a joint venture agreement that represents a highly significant partnership for the Indian hospitality sector.

InterGlobe Hotels, a 60:40 joint venture between InterGlobe Enterprises and Accor Asia Pacific, will invest in and develop a minimum of 25 ‘Ibis' brand economy hotels across India and South Asia over the next 10-12 years. The venture envisages an investment of over Rs. 850 Cr over this period.

The establishment of an India-wide internationally-branded economy hotel network will fill a major void in the Indian hospitality sector and cater for the extra demand that has resulted from the growth in domestic and international travel.

InterGlobe's joint venture with Accor, acknowledged as the world leader in economy and mid-priced hotels, has a vision to redefine the economy hotel sector in India, positioning Ibis hotels as the preferred ‘best value international hotels' across the region. With over 650 hotels and close to 70,000 rooms in 36 countries, Ibis hotels are renowned the world over for their quality, simplicity and unbeatable value-for-money.

Development activity for Ibis hotels is already underway in Bangalore and Gurgaon. Together these hotels will have over 600 rooms. Target cities for immediate future development are Mumbai, the National Capital Region, Chennai and Hyderabad . A site is under active negotiation at Pune while another site has been secured at Jaipur and the market is currently being evaluated.

Accor is pursuing management opportunities in the sub-continent and actively negotiating the management of two purpose-built 300-room Novotel brand hotels at Gurgaon and Hyderabad respectively. Accor is also in discussion to manage Novotel hotels at Chennai, Mumbai and Pune.

Speaking at the launch of the joint ventures, Mr. Rahul Bhatia, Managing Director, InterGlobe Enterprises said, “We at InterGlobe have a firm belief in India 's travel and tourism story, especially in enterprises that provide consumers true value for money. Our joint venture with Accor for Ibis economy hotels extends the large footprint we already have across India 's travel landscape. We are delighted to be partnering with the world leader in hotel development and management.”

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Michael Issenberg, Managing Director, Accor Asia Pacific said, “We could not have chosen a better partner for the sub-continent than InterGlobe, with its diversified interests in travel management, distribution and technology and with its established track record of working with leading international companies in the travel business. We are confident and excited about establishing our dominant presence in the world's fastest growing travel market. We look to introduce our other major brands – Sofitel, Novotel, and Mercure – when the appropriate projects become available.”

About InterGlobe Enterprises
Established in 1989, IGE is a travel corporation that services all requirements of the travel and tourism industry through its dedicated business units - InterGlobe Air Transport, for air transport and cruiseline management; ITQ, for travel technology consulting and a full range of IT Services in India; Galileo, for travel technology distribution; InterGlobe Technologies, for global IT and BPO solutions and services; InterGlobe Hospitality for restaurants; and InterGlobe Hotels, for hotel development.

About Accor
With 158,000 people in 140 countries, Accor is the European leader and one of the world's largest groups in travel, tourism and corporate services, with two major international activities:

Hotels: nearly 4,000 hotels (455,000 rooms) in 90 countries, casinos, travel agencies, and restaurants;

Services to corporate clients and public institutions: 14 million people in 34 countries use a broad range of services (food vouchers, people care and services, incentive, loyalty programs, events) engineered and managed by Accor.

For further information please contact:

Pooja Sabharwal – Genesis Public Relations
Tel: 0124-5044999 Ext. 26
Fax: 0124-5044744
e-mail: psabharwal@genesispr.com
Website: www.interglobe.com