29th Mar 2007 20:39
IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) (LSE:IHG) (NYSE:IHG) (ADRs),the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms, today announcesthat a 104-room Holiday Inn Express in San Pedro Sula, Honduras willbe built. This hotel will be the first Holiday Inn Express in Hondurasand the fourth IHG property in the country. San Pedro Sula has anestimated population of one million and is the second largest city inthe country after the Honduran Capital of Tegucigalpa. £ The 11-story hotel will be owned by Desarrollos Monumentales, S.A.de CV under a license agreement with a company in the InterContinentalHotels Group and is scheduled to open September 2008. £ Currently, there are three IHG properties in Honduras includingthe Real InterContinental San Pedro Sula, the Real InterContinentalTegucigalpa and the Holiday Inn San Pedro Sula also owned byDesarrollos Monumentales, S.A. Recently, IHG announced thegroundbreaking of the first Holiday Inn Express in Central America,the San Jose - Forum in San Jose, Costa Rica. £ "The decision to bring the Holiday Inn Express brand to thecountry of Honduras reflects the development of tourism in the region,as well as the need for accommodations that offers comfort,convenience and good quality at affordable prices to internationalbusiness and leisure travelers," said Alvaro Diago, area president,IHG Latin America. "We have assessed the travel market in the regionand feel that we are ahead of the trend and that it is timely to bringthis mid-scale brand to the country." £ "We are also delighted to develop yet another property withDesarrollos Monumentales, S.A., whom we've had a great 13-yearrelationship with, I know that this new hotel will be just assuccessful," Diago added. £ "As IHG's fastest growing brand, Holiday Inn Express is a welcomeaddition to our hotel portfolio in Honduras," said Tom Murray, chiefoperating officer, IHG, The Americas. "We look forward to continuedexpansion in Central America and adding more hotels in the IHG familyof brands to the region." £ The Holiday Inn Express in San Pedro Sula will be situated onAvenida Circunvalacion in front of the Monumento a la Madre andcontinues to the San Vicente de Paul Church, which is within walkingdistance from San Pedro Sula's trendiest areas. It will also be nextto the two best shopping malls in the city and about 15 minutes fromSan Pedro Sula's International Airport. £ "We look forward to furthering our relationship with IHG -- it hasbeen a pleasure working with them throughout the years," says AntonioHandal, president, Desarrollos Monumentales, S.A. "Additionally, weare thrilled to bring a new and very attractive brand into thecountry." £ Upon completion, the hotel will have an outdoor swimming pool,fitness center, four meeting rooms to accommodate up to 50 people anda business center. £ San Pedro Sula is considered Honduras' Industrial Capital with theabundant amount of factories, plantations, textile industries andcommercial businesses that surround the city. It primarily caters to abusiness market, but it also serves leisure travelers, especiallytravelers eager to fly to the beautiful island of Roatan, aworld-class diving destination, the Mayan Copan ruins and La Ceiba. £ Holiday Inn Express has rapidly developed into one of the world'smost preferred hotel brands. A young brand, by global hotel standards,Holiday Inn Express has been offering comfort, value and convenienceto international business and pleasure travelers since its inceptionin 1991. £ In a short 16 years, the Holiday Inn Express has grown to nearly1,700 hotels throughout the world, and is the fastest growing of theHoliday Inn hotel brands, of which there are 14 hotels currently foundin Latin America. £ IHG has more than 160 hotels in Mexico, Central and South Americaas the well as the Caribbean, and has been serving Latin America forover 60 years. IHG is the world's largest hotel company by number ofrooms, and the second largest hotel operator in Latin America. IHG hashotels situated in nearly every key market throughout the LatinAmerica territory. £ Notes to Editors: £ InterContinental Hotels Group PLC of the United Kingdom (LON:IHG,NYSE:IHG (ADRs)) is the world's largest hotel group by number ofrooms. InterContinental Hotels Group owns, manages, leases orfranchises, through various subsidiaries, over 3,700 hotels and556,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around theworld. The Group owns a portfolio of well recognized and respectedhotel brands including InterContinental(R) Hotels & Resorts, CrownePlaza(R) Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn(R) Hotels and Resorts, HolidayInn Express(R), Staybridge Suites(R), Candlewood Suites(R) and HotelIndigo(R), and also manages the world's largest hotel loyalty program,Priority Club(R) Rewards with over 31 million members worldwide. £ InterContinental Hotels Group offers information and onlinereservations for all its hotel brands at www.ihg.com and informationor the Priority Club Rewards program at www.priorityclub.com. £ For the latest news from InterContinental Hotels Group, visit ouronline Press Office at www.ihg.com/media. Copyright Business Wire 2007Related Shares:
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