IHG targets young Saudis with new hotel brand

International hotel chain IHG Hotels and Resorts has signed a master development agreement with Tashyid for Hotel Operations to develop 12 hotels and 2,500 keys under the Holiday Inn Express brand across Saudi Arabia. 

The first 300-key Holiday Inn Express hotel will open in Jeddah by June 2025.   

Haitham Mattar, managing director, India, Middle East & Africa, IHG Hotels and Resorts, stated there has been an increasing demand for its brands across segments, with Holiday Inn Express hotels mainly focussing on the millennial and Gen Z Saudi travellers.

Holiday Inn Express is IHG’s fastest-growing brand, with over 3,000 operating hotels globally.

IHG currently operates 39 hotels across five brands in Saudi Arabia, including InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Staybridge Suites, and Voco.

The company has 30 hotels in the development pipeline, which will open within the next three to five years.

In April, property consultancy Knight Frank said the total development cost for all the hotel rooms planned in Saudi Arabia is estimated at $37.8 billion.

The Arab world’s largest economy will see the completion of 315,000 hotel keys by 2030.

The growth in Saudi’s hotel room inventory will swell to become larger than Dubai’s current 140,000 keys, as the country embarks on an expansion drive as part of its diversification strategy, the consultancy added.