Dubai Internet City property takes refreshing look at limited-service hotel accommodation
Dubai, 10 July 2007: InterContinental Hotels Group has opened 'Express by Holiday Inn Dubai Internet City', the group's first limited service hotel in the Middle East. To mark the occasion IHG hosted a morning launch event to showcase the brand's trademark 'Great Breakfast.'
The breakfast was attended by senior management from InterContinental Hotels Group and developers, Ishraq Gulf Real Estate Holding BSC ©, both of whom shared the latest plans for the Express by Holiday Inn brand, the fastest growing limited service brand in the world, opening on average two hotels every week around the globe.
Speaking about the plans, Michel Augier, Acting Chief Operating Officer, InterContinental Hotels Group, Middle East & Africa, said, "The rapid global expansion of the Express by Holiday Inn brand will be mirrored in the Middle East with a growing demand for limited service hotels offering competitive pricing, quality accommodation for both business and leisure travellers and the reassurance that an international brand brings."
Added Augier, "Currently, hotel options in the Middle East for travellers on a budget are quite limited, with many people having to select more expensive accommodation in order to guarantee themselves satisfactory levels of amenities and service. This will now change with the opening of Express by Holiday Inn Dubai Internet City."
The properties will be operated by Ishraq Gulf Real Estate Holding Co. BSC ©, which is the exclusive developer of the Express by Holiday Inn hotels in all GCC countries, except Saudi Arabia.
Commenting on the opening of Express by Holiday Inn Dubai Internet City, Sami Al Ansari, Chief Executive Officer, Ishraq Gulf Real Estate Holding Co. BSC ©, said, "Express by Holiday Inn Dubai Internet City is the first of 22 hotels planned across the GCC countries and Jordan by the end of 2010. Ishraq believes Dubai is the perfect location for the first of four Express by Holiday Inn properties scheduled to open within the next 18 months, due to the established tourism market and demand from corporate travellers around the world."
There are a number of further properties in the pipeline across the UAE set to open in the next five years with contracts and locations to be announced in the near future. Hotels will be developed by Ishraq in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and also Jordan over the same timeframe.
The launch event at Express by Holiday Inn Dubai Internet City included a continental breakfast, named a 'Great Breakfast'- just one of the hallmarks of the brand designed to cater for the traveller looking for value for money. An 'Express' tour of the hotel took in the new décor, rooms and facilities including the mini-gym, the 'Express Communications Centre' equipped with extensive business facilities, the lounge and the restaurant, known as the 'Great Room.'
Now officially open, the property comprises 244 rooms over four floors and is completely integrated into the strategically located Dubai Knowledge Village complex.
Developed by InterContinental Hotels Group, Express by Holiday Inn is the world's largest limited service brand and is growing rapidly. Globally, there are more than 1,600 Express by Holiday Inn properties with over 140,000 rooms offering comfort, value and convenience to international business and leisure travellers.
Since its inception in 1991, Express by Holiday Inn has rapidly become one of the world's most preferred hotel brands.
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About Ishraq:
Ishraq Gulf Real Estate Holding BSC ©, a company incorporated in Bahrain with Dubai-based headquarters, is the exclusive developer of the Express by Holiday Inn hotels in the entire GCC (With the exception of Saudi Arabia). Ishraq will develop more than 22 Hotels within a 5 year roll-out plan, Dubai International Capital LLC, the international investment arm of Dubai Holding is the major shareholder of ISHRAQ.
For more information, please visit the website: http://www.ishraqholding.com
For more information, please visit the website: http://www.hms-me.com
About InterContinental Hotels Group
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG) of the United Kingdom [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms. IHG owns, manages, leases or franchises, through various subsidiaries, over 3,700 hotels and more than 558,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world. IHG owns a portfolio of well recognised and respected hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites®, Candlewood Suites® and Hotel Indigo®, and also manages the world's largest hotel loyalty programme, Priority Club® Rewards, with over 33 million members worldwide.
The company pioneered the travel industry's first collaborative response to environmental issues as founder of the International Hotels and Environment Initiative (IHEI). The IHEI formed the foundations of the Tourism Partnership launched by the International Business Leaders Forum in 2004, of which IHG is still a member today. The environment and local communities remain at the heart of IHG's global corporate responsibility focus.
IHG 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 IHG, visit our online Press Office at www.ihg.com/media.
For further press information please contact:
Jennie Brown, Consultant
Impact Porter Novelli
16th Floor, Emirates Towers
P.O. Box 19791
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Tel: +971 4 330 4030 Ext 428
Fax: +971 4 330 4031
Email: j.brown@ipn.ae
www.porternovelli.com
© Press Release 2007
