The world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), has signed a management contract to manage the Crowne Plaza Kaohsiung E-Da World hotel. The hotel is scheduled to open in the city of Kaoshiung in southern Taiwan by the end of 2009.

The 650-room hotel is expected to feature five food and beverage outlets, two ballrooms and ten function rooms. This will be the first managed Crowne Plaza hotel in Taiwan and will make IHG the largest international hotel group in Taiwan with a total of more than 1,200 rooms.

The city of Kaohsiung is also due to hit the headlines next month (July 2009) when it plays host to the 2009 World Games, which will be the largest sporting event ever held on the island. The World Games has been running since 1981 and is a competition of sports that are not played in the Olympic Games. Athletes will compete in sports such as orienteering, body-building, squash, netball, water skiing and many more.