Hotel chain joins tsunami relief effort

InterContinental Hotels and Resorts, a worldwide chain that includes a hotel in Malta, has teamed up with Unicef to raise $1 million for the UN organisation's tsunami relief efforts.

The chain's hotels are this week asking guests whether they would like an extra $2 added to their bill. That $2 will then be matched by InterContinental, and the resulting amount sent to Unicef.

"Our goal is to raise more than $1 million this week," said Richard Hartman, managing director (Europe, Middle East, Africa) of the InterContinental Hotels Group, which owns the chain.

"We are calling this campaign 'From the heart' and we really mean it. Unicef is the charity that our hotels group officially supports and we want to do something to help their efforts in the disaster-struck Indian Ocean."

Christophe Laure, general manager of InterContinental Malta, said the hotel here was helping in any way it could, alerting guests to the initiative.