Dur Hospitality Inks Deal With IHG To Operate Hotels In Saudi Arabia

Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) announced that it has signed a master development agreement with Saudi-based property and hotel developer Dur Hospitality Company for the franchise of a number of Holiday Inn & Suites across the Kingdom.

As per the deal, a number of Holiday Inn & Suites branded hotels will be developed across the country over the next five years, IHG said in a statement.

The company did not specify the number of hotels that it is planning to open in this time period.

“We have been in Saudi Arabia nearly 40 years and as a key market for us it holds our largest pipeline in the Middle East,” said Pascal Gauvin, COO, India, Middle East & Africa, IHG.

“Working with the right partner can go a long way in building our brands’ reputation in any market. We are confident the partnership will lend great support to the growth of our Holiday Inn presence in the country.”

IHG currently has 24 hotels in Saudi Arabia under the InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn brands.

The company is planning to open another nine hotels in the next three to five years, including InterContinental Riyadh King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) and Hotel Indigo Riyadh KAFD, marking the entry of the Hotel Indigo brand into the Middle East market.

“Saudi Arabia is a very unique market and the tourism landscape is changing,” said Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al-Issa, chairman, Dur Hospitality Company.

“We have been managing hotels in Saudi Arabia for many years now and it is a change in direction for us to be working with an operator to develop these many hotels under one brand.”

Dur Hospitality, previously known as Saudi Hotels and Resorts Co, has been expanding in the Kingdom’s growing hospitality market, signing operation agreements with international hotel groups.

Recently it signed a SAR300 million deal with Marriott International for two hotels in Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter.

Following the deal, Marriott will operate an 80-unit hotel and a 140-unit executive apartment complex in the Kingdom.

In order to tap into Saudi’s hotel boom brought about by the growing number of domestic and business tourists, Dur Hospitality said that it planned to spend around SAR1.4 billion ($373 million) over the next seven years to expand its portfolio of hotels and luxury residential buildings.