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Thu, 08 Jan 2009 | 06:58 GMT

Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) signs exclusive agreement to develop first resort in Oman's coastal town of Duqum

Press Release
 
 

Seated (Left to Right) - Mr. Rani Gharbie, Director – Development, IHG MEA, Mr. John Bamsey, Chief Operation Officer, IHG MEA, H.E. Dr. Rajiha Bint Abdul Ameer Ali, Minister of Tourism & Chairperson of Omran and Eng. Wael Bin Ahmed Al Lawati, CEO – Omran. Standing (Left to Right) - Mr. David Todd, General Manager, Crowne Plaza Muscat and Mr. Prakash Gabra, CFO – Omran.

Riyadh, 1st December 2008: OMRANOMRANLoading..., the Government of Oman's tourism & development executive arm, and IHGIHGLoading... have announced the signing of an agreement to develop Crowne Plaza Duqum Resort, the second Crowne Plaza resort in the Sultanate of Oman. Present at the signing were the Minister of Tourism and Chairperson of OMRANOMRANLoading..., HE Dr Rajha Abdul Ameer Ali, and John Bamsey, Chief Operating Officer, IHGIHGLoading..., Middle East and Africa. Also present from Omran were Eng. Wael Al Lawati, CEO and Mr. Prakash Gabra, CFO. While from IHGIHGLoading... Mr. Rani Gharbié, Director of Development Middle East & Africa and Mr. David Todd, GM Crowne Plaza Muscat were also present.

Crowne Plaza Duqum Resort, which is scheduled to open in 2011, and will consist of 228 well-appointed rooms - which will include 11 spacious executive suites and six family/junior suites. The property is in close proximity to Duqum town on the Arabian Sea, which is reinventing itself as Oman's next major industrial and commercial hub.

Commenting on the signing, John Bamsey said: "We are extremely honoured to be partnering with OMRANOMRANLoading... once again for the development of Crowne Plaza Duqum Resort. We already operate other government owned properties in Oman - Al Bustan Palace InterContinental Muscat, InterContinental Muscat and Crowne Plaza Resort Salalah - and our collaboration on the Duqum project further demonstrates our long-standing relationship with OMRANOMRANLoading... and our commitment to cooperate on future development opportunities within Oman. Crowne Plaza Duqum Resort is the first hotel to be built in the initial construction phase of Duqum's expansion and will mainly cater to the increasing business travellers into the area - consultants, contractors, investors and project managers - looking for high levels of service in close proximity to their place of business."

The new Crowne Plaza hotel will feature several diverse dining options including a speciality dining restaurant, an all day dining restaurant, a seafood grill/pool bar and a lobby lounge. In addition, the property will offer a complete fitness centre with the latest in high-tech equipment, a spa, and tennis courts - all of which will give business guests the opportunity to mix business with pleasure.

More significantly, Crowne Plaza Duqum Resort will provide business guests with state-of-the-art meeting and conference facilities that will cater to their specific needs.

"Duqum is a rapidly growing costal town with a prime geographic location, and we are pleased to be partnering with IHGIHGLoading... to introduce world-class hospitality facilities into the area. Within the next five years, Duqum will be transformed into a major commercial port, dry dock, and a shipbuilding yard, together with other major services and industries. We are looking forward to the completion of Duqum's construction phase and for it to become a key destination for both business and leisure travellers on a global scale," commented Eng. Wael Al Lawati.

The master plan for Duqum's scale-up also includes designated areas for an airport, an oil refinery, free trade zones and oil storage facilities as well as a fishing harbour complete with fishery related industries. In addition, a complete residential town with a Town Centre is planned together with leisure tourism-related facilities - hotels, resorts and a public beach.

"The plan by the Omani government to include a wider range of tourism facilities is also expected to establish Duqum as an attractive leisure destination in the region, and Crowne Plaza Duqum Resort will be developed to cater to the leisure segment within five to seven years from opening. Situated on the pristine waters of the Arabian Sea, the property and will equally offer fantastic services and facilities to both business and leisure travellers," added Bamsey.

The Crowne Plaza Duqum Resort will be IHGIHGLoading...'s sixth property within Oman which, as of 30th September 2008, comprises of InterContinental Muscat, InterContinental Al Bustan Palace Muscat, Crown Plaza Muscat, Crowne Plaza Salalah Resort and Holiday Inn Muscat Al Madinah.

-Ends-

About InterContinental Hotels Group (IHGIHGLoading...)
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHGIHGLoading...) [LON:IHGIHGLoading..., NYSE:IHGIHGLoading... (ADRs)] is the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms. IHGIHGLoading... owns, manages, leases or franchises, through various subsidiaries, over 4,100 hotels and more than 600,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world. The Group owns a portfolio of well recognised and respected hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites®, and also manages the world's largest hotel loyalty programme, Priority Club® Rewards with 40 million members worldwide.

IHGIHGLoading...'s portfolio within Oman numbered five properties as of 30 September 2008, comprising two InterContinental, two Crowne Plaza and one Holiday Inn hotels.

IHGIHGLoading... has more than 1,700 hotels in its development pipeline, which will create 200,000 jobs worldwide over the next few years.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

IHGIHGLoading... offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at www.ihg.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards programme at www.priorityclub.com. For the latest news from IHGIHGLoading..., visit our online Press Office at www.ihg.com/media

About InterContinental Hotels & Resorts
InterContinental Hotels & Resorts has over 150 hotels, located in more than 60 countries with local insight that comes from over 60 years of experience. At InterContinental we believe that superior, understated service and outstanding facilities are important, but what makes us truly different, is the genuine interest we show in our guests. Our desire is to help guests make the most of their time. We connect our well-travelled guests to what's special about a destination, by sharing our knowledge so they enjoy authentic experiences that will enrich their lives and broaden their outlook. For more information, visit www.intercontinental.com and www.intercontinentalvideo.com.

About Omran:
Omran was established in 2005 as the Omani government's executive and investment arm for development of tourism projects, especially the provision of strategic projects through the creation of effective joint ventures or through directly developing major projects with value of investments and projects estimated at $10 billion.

For more information on Omran, please visit www.omran.om

Contacts:
Malik Abdullrahman
Asda'a Burson-Marstellar
Riyadh, KSA
T: +966 1 2177250
F: +966 1 4640051
M: +966 503 44 7595
M.Abdullrahman@asdaa.com

Abdul Wahid Al Farsi
External Affairs Manager
Omran
Tel: +968 24 773 749
Email: abdulwahid.alfarsi@omran.om

© Press Release 2008 from ASDA'A Public Relations

 
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