Holiday Inn Express upbeat on SE Asia
Holiday Inn Express, a mid-scale hotel brand, plans to open 12 properties in Southeast Asia over the next two years to cash in on the growing economy and tourism industry in the region.
The new openings will be in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, with Thailand considered the top market in terms of market size, said Jan Smits, chief executive officer of IHG Asia, Middle East and Africa.
Yesterday, the company officially opened its first Southeast Asian Holiday Inn Express, in Bangkok, with two more to follow in Phuket and Pattaya.
In the Asia-Pacific region, 40 hotels are in operation under the Holiday Inn Express brand, with another 54 properties in the pipeline, he said.
Holiday Inn Express is part of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), a listed company on the New York Stock Exchange. The group has nine brands in its portfolio, including Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts and InterContinental Hotels and Resorts.
IHG views Asia and the Pacific as a strong market with fast-growing economies, especially in China and India, Smits said.
The Holiday Inn Express brand was launched in 1991. It has grown to more than 2,000 hotels globally, making it the biggest brand within the IHG portfolio.
The Holiday Inn Express in Bangkok is owned by Ashwani Bajaj, a Thai hotelier. The 300-room downtown property cost Bt1 billion, excluding land, and is expected to provide an investment return in less than seven years, which is the normal period for a hotel business to break even.
The hotel already has an occupancy rate is 65 per cent, the company said, driven mainly by Asian guests from Singapore, mainland China, India and Hong Kong.
The company believes the mid-scale hotel market has more room for growth, especially among foreign independent and business travellers looking for comfort, convenience and value in the heart of the city.
Moreover, Thailand offers good potential for the Holiday Inn Express brand, especially in Bangkok, as a business and tourism destination in the region, despite the continuing political uncertainty in the Kingdom, IHG said.
