New Year brings more InterContinental Hotels Group Expansion in Middle East

InterContinental Hotels Group will begin another new phase of expansion in the New Year to reinforce the company’s position as one of the largest hotel operators in the Middle East.

In addition to three new hotels opening next year in Egypt and three more also under development, the company is looking towards a number of other new projects at city and resorts destinations across the region.

The first of the new hotels, the 452-room InterContinental Abu Soma Resort Red Sea, will open its doors to guests on Egypt’s Red Sea Riviera in April 2004.

Within three months the 792-room InterContinental Heliopolis Cairo will become Egypt’s fifth InterContinental property when it opens as part of Citystars Heliopolis Cairo, a US$600 million development combining shopping, entertainment, office and residential facilities in the Egyptian capital.

Towards the end of 2004, a 176-room Holiday Inn Resort will open at Taba in Egypt, giving InterContinental Hotels Group a total of 65 InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn hotels under management in the Middle East.

A new InterContinental hotel at Aqaba in Jordan and another Holiday Inn property at Heliopolis in Cairo are on schedule to open in 2005, and early the following year the Holiday Inn Resort Dead Sea will open in Jordan.

“Our expansion will certainly not end there,” said Chris Moloney, Chief Operating Officer, InterContinental Hotels Group, Middle East and Africa. “We’re currently looking towards a variety of additional new developments in Egypt, Lebanon, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East, and we expect to be able to announce a number of exciting new additions to our portfolio in the New Year.”

Currently in the Middle East, InterContinental Hotels Group manages 33 InterContinental properties in Saudi Arabia (11 hotels plus 7 palaces), Egypt (4), the UAE (3), Lebanon (3), Oman (2), Bahrain, Jordan and Qatar. There are ten Crowne Plaza hotels in the region, in the UAE (2), Jordan (2), Kuwait, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Lebanon and Bahrain. Saudi Arabia has nine Holiday Inn hotels out of a total of 18 in the Middle East. The others are found in Egypt (3), Oman (2), the UAE, Lebanon, Jordan and Yemen.

Added Moloney: “Our intention is to continue to expand, both in the countries where we already have a presence, and in other emerging markets. The fact that we have such a major presence, and are able to offer three very distinct hotel brands, each catering to guests with different requirements, and budgets, give us a strong market advantage. We’re building on that by introducing new service initiatives, and continually looking at ways to further enhance the quality of service we deliver.”