InterContinental Hotels Group has signed a master development agreement with Saudi Arabia's Al Hokair Group to develop at least 10 Holiday Inn Express hotels within the next 15 years.
The first Holiday Inn Express to open under the agreement will be a 200-room hotel in Jeddah. The other nine hotels will open shortly after in various key cities across the country. All 10 new properties will be operated under long-term franchise agreements.
"The tourism landscape in Saudi Arabia is rapidly changing, and we are excited to leverage the huge growth opportunities that Saudi Vision 2030 presents, particularly given that one of the biggest pillars of the plan is to bring more tourism into the country,” Pascal Gauvin, MD, India, Middle East and Africa, IHG, said in a statement.
Sami Alhokair, MD of Al Hokair Group, said in a statement that the two groups plan to capitalize on the increasing demand for the destination while boosting the country’s mid-market hotels sector, which currently lacks adequate supply. “This signing presents us with unprecedented opportunities to capture the volume segment,” Alkohair said.
IHG currently operates 31 hotels across four brands, including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn and Staybridge Suites, in Saudi Arabia. Al Hokair Group operates six of these hotels under the Holiday Inn brand.
The latest addition to IHG's portfolio in Saudi Arabia was the Crowne Plaza Riyadh-RDC Hotel and Convention Center. The 326-room property opened in February 2018 as the seventh operating IHG hotel in Riyadh and the 31st in the kingdom.