InterContinental Owner Wins Grand Prix Award as 'Etrepreneur of the Year'

Tahiti Entrepreneur Awards

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. October 14, 2008

PAPEETE, Tahiti, (September 13, 2006. Richard H. Bailey, CEO of Tahiti Beachcomber SA, is the first American to be honored with the title of "Entrepreneur of the Year" at the Tahiti Entrepreneur Awards, held recently in Papeete. Bailey, 52, who owns the four InterContinental resorts in French Polynesia, won the Grand Prix award and will now be considered for the French Entrepreneur of the year award (an event sponsored by Ernst & Young), which will be held in Paris on October 17, 2006.

Bailey was nominated for four of the nine Tahiti Entrepreneur Awards organized by the French Polynesian government's "Tahiti Invest." Along with winning the "Entrepreneur of the Year," Bailey also won the award for "Best Eco-Dynamic Company" resulting from his work on the recently opened InterContinental Resort and Thalasso Spa Bora Bora, which utilizes a one-of-a-kind eco-friendly air conditioning system. Bailey is also working with the estate of Marlon Brando to build an eco-resort on Tetiaroa, the late actor's private island.

Richard Bailey owns the four InterContinental Resorts French Polynesia: InterContinental Resort Tahiti; InterContinental Le Moana Resort Bora Bora; InterContinental Resort & Thalasso Spa Bora Bora; and InterContinental Resort and Spa Moorea. Bailey and his company, Tahiti Beachcomber Soci`ete Anonyme (TBSA), which purchased two of the resorts in 1998 and then the third, in Bora Bora, in 1999, have recently opened the fourth hotel, InterContinental Resort and Thalasso Spa Bora Bora, in May 2006.

Bailey works closely with the Environmental Service in Tahiti to develop programs relating to the environment, research and protection of endangered wildlife species for all of the InterContinental Resorts French Polynesia. He is currently working towards the 2008 opening of a new luxury eco-hotel on Tetiaroa, Marlon Brando's private island.

Born in the United States in Lafayette, Louisiana, Bailey first came to Tahiti in 1963, as a nine-year-old child. His fascination with the region never waned and he returned to the islands on vacation in 1978, when he met his future wife, Mireille Chin Foo. A notary clerk, Mrs. Bailey's grandfather had started the Chin Foo Bank in Tahiti and several other businesses. After living in the United States for a number of years, the Baileys moved back to Tahiti with their three children in 1986.

Bailey's first job in Tahiti was with OPATTI, the former name of the Tahiti Tourist Office. While there he met Harunori Takahashi, a Japanese real estate investor and went to work at Takahashi's company, Electronic and Industrial Enterprises or EIE. Takahashi was the former owner of the InterContinental resorts (then called the Beachcomber Resorts).

In addition to his role as owner of the InterContinental Resorts French Polynesia, Bailey is also head of Hotel Management & Services (HMS). The company manages the Maitai Hotels, a sister brand of the InterContinental.