Yesterday the 381-room Holiday Inn Express at Dubai International Airport was officially opened. The hotel is now Inter Continental Hotels Group (IHG) 4th Hotel in Dubai and 8th property throughout the Middle East and Africa region. The hotel is expected to benefit from the 11 million tourists that are due to visit the UAE this year.
IHG opened their first hotel in the United Arab Emirates 35 years ago and they have continued to invest in the UAE and build on it’s rich heritage to become one of the biggest hotel operators in the country. Today they have 16 existing properties and 7 hotels under development.
Traditionally, the Midle Eastern markets have been primarily dominated by luxury, upscale hotel brands. However, as markets mature and develop, customers tend to seek out trusted brands.
Ishraq is the exclusive developer of the Holiday Inn Express brand excluding Saudi Arabia and the company will be responsible for the management and operation of the new Hotel at Dubai Airport.
CEO of Ishraq, Sami Al Ansari confirmed that they have signed 3 Dubai hotels with IHG over the past 3 years for locations in Internet City, Safa Park and Jumeirah. Ishraq is also planning to expand the brand in other locations within the Gulf, the first of which will be the Holiday Inn Express Manama, Bahrain, which is due to open towards the end of 2011.
There are currently 2,069 Holiday Inn Express Hotels across the world and a staggering 563 additional hotels are currently in the development pipeline.