IHG has signed a franchise
agreement with Destination Group, a leading hospitality and restaurant
company, to rebrand two resorts in Phuket, Thailand.
Independent hotels Surin Phuket Beach Resort and
Karon Phuket Beach Resort will undergo renovations and be
rebranded as the Holiday Inn Resort Phuket Surin Beach and Holiday
Inn Resort Phuket Karon Beach in 2023.
The deal brings the Holiday Inn portfolio in Thailand
to 12 opened and in the pipeline, and adds to recent 2022 openings
Holiday Inn Resort Krabi Ao Nang Beach and Holiday Inn Resort
Samui Bophut Beach.
“Surin and Karon are some of the best beach
destinations for leisure travellers, and appeal greatly to
families. Pre-pandemic, Phuket attracted 10 million visitors
annually and we are confident that as travel continues to recover
and as flights return, it will continue to be one of the most
visited destinations in Thailand,” said Gary Murray, Founder & CEO
of Destination Group. “We are aligned with IHG in our vision to offer
world class products and experiences and want all of our guests to
enjoy a memorable holiday together. We believe that Holiday Inn’s
proposition as one of the most recognised brands in the world
offering a consistent, affordable and approachable service
experience is a good fit for these resorts and will benefit from
the strength and scale of IHG’s global systems, technology and
loyalty programme. We look forward to taking the properties to
even greater heights with IHG.”
The 256-room Holiday Inn Resort Phuket Surin Beach
is 25 minutes from Phuket International Airport, a 20-minute drive
from Patong and 150 metres to Surin beach.
Its key appeal will be its Family Rooms and Suites
and a wide array of activities for kids including an arcade room,
cinema, ice cream shop and toy store. Other facilities include three
restaurants and bars, swimming pool, fitness centre, spa and kids
club Siam Adventure Club
The 224-room Holiday Inn Resort Phuket Karon Beach
is 60 minutes from Phuket International Airport, a 20-minute drive from
Patong and 100 metres to Karon Beach.
Rooms include family suites and plunge pool suites
with facilities such as five restaurants and bars, three swimming
pools, fitness centre, spa and kids club Siam Adventure Club.
“The Destination Group is the third largest
franchise operator in Asia with an in-house team of highly
experienced specialists that acquires, renovates and reposition
quality hotel assets. This first-time partnership speaks to the
trust that IHG brands and our business model inspire in our
franchisees and business partners. I look forward to fostering a
wonderful long-term collaboration with the team on these beautiful
resort properties,” said Saowarin Chanprakaisi, Director,
Development, South East Asia and Korea, IHG. “The two signings are a great complement to the six other opened hotels in
Phuket, across the InterContinental, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn
Resort, Holiday Inn Express and Crowne Plaza brands, enabling
greater synergies, operational efficiency and talent management
across our portfolio.”
Thailand continues to be a strong growth market for IHG with 30
hotels (as of latest data from the company) across nine brands in the country and 36 in the pipeline.
The company is working to double its estate
across all of its brands in the country by 2026.
