Dubai
With three new properties set to open in Dubai, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) plans to open two more hotels in Abu Dhabi over the next two years, the UK-based hotel company said on Wednesday.
The 257-room Holiday Inn Downtown Abu Dhabi and the 184-room InterContinental Abu Dhabi- Grand Marina are due to open in late 2014 and 2016, respectively. The properties will be the second under the brands and bring the total number of IHG hotels in the UAE to 20.
Pascal Gauvin, IHG’s COO for India, the Middle East and Africa, told Gulf News he expects the hotels to have “superior” revenue per available room (RevPAR) when they open. He, however, declined to provide the revenue forecast for the first half of the year.
Meanwhile in Dubai, IHG plans to open the InterContinental Dubai Marina in December and the Crowne Plaza Dubai Marina in 2016. A Staybridge Suites, Dubai’s first, is set to open within five years.
IHG has seven properties in its UAE pipeline that are expected to open within five years, including a Staybridge Suites in Abu Dhabi.
Most of the hotel company’s brands from its global portfolio are present in the Middle East, including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge Suites. Next year will see the regional entry of Hotel Indigo in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Asked when the brand is expected to enter the Dubai market, Gauvin said: “We are talking to investors. People are interested in the brand so we hope to see it soon in Dubai.”
IHG is not looking to introduce a brand specific to the Middle East market at present. “We want to grow our existing brands,” he said. It currently has a brand specific to the Chinese market called Hualuxe Hotels and Resorts. IHG operates 81 hotels in the Middle East and has 27 in the pipeline.
