InterContinental Hotels Group has just signed the first new hotel in Geelong, Australia in more than 20 years. As part of a 20-year management contract inked with Franzé Developments, the hotel group has agreed to launch and operate Holiday Inn and Suites Geelong, which is set to be the largest hotel in the city.
Opening in 2020, the 190-guestroom property will also be IHG’s first Holiday Inn hotel in Australia with suites. The group is developing these 40 suites for longer stays. With a low guestroom stock fighting to accommodate growing traveler demand, the developers have aimed to take advantage of the development opportunity.
“Geelong welcomes around 2.2 million overnight visitors annually, but is dramatically underrepresented by quality hotels," Paul Franzé, founder and MD at Franzé Developments, said in a statement. Franzé Developments bought up the CBD site in April 2017 to build a 355,209-square-foot mixed-use development, the largest to ever be built in Geelong. The project will also have more than 107,639 square feet of retail and office space, 24 residences and co-working space.
IHG's current Asia-Pacific portfolio has 20 Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels already operating and another nine hotels in the construction pipeline mainly in large cities and near airports. The group also currently has 47 hotels operating under four brands across Australasia: InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts and Holiday Inn Express with another 15 in the pipeline, including Hotel Indigo and Even Hotels.