The InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has signed an agreement with the Al Yaquob Group to develop a new Holiday Inn hotel in Dubai.

The new property in the Bur Dubai district of Dubai, UAE, is projected to open in the second half of 2008, and is one of 18 IHG hotels set to open in the country by the end of 2010. Centrally located in the historic area of Dubai, Holiday Inn Bur Dubai will boast 400 rooms and extensive leisure and dining facilities including an all day dining restaurant, lobby lounge and rooftop health club.
The property will also be the first Sharia-compliant IHG hotel in the UAE and this attribute is expected to attract both intra-regional business and leisure travellers.
The deal was signed by IHG Middle East & Africa chief operating officer John Bamsey and Al Yaquob Group chairman Daru Saifuddin Al Yaquob. Also present at the signing ceremony were Richard Hartman, managing director, InterContinental Hotels Group, Europe, Middle East & Africa and Al Yaquob Group chief executive officer Abdul Malik Al Yaquob.
 “IHG is committed to the expansion of the Holiday Inn brand across the Middle East and Africa, with 23 hotels planned for the region by the end of 2010,” said Bamsey. “With Dubai expecting 40 million visitors by 2015, the hospitality industry must cater for a diversifying mix of traveller and therefore the need for an internationally renowned brand offering modern facilities and unfailing dependability, service and value, is vital. The signing of this latest agreement is testament to the alliance IHG has developed with the Al Yaquob Group, with whom we are working on a number of promising projects across the region,” he said.