InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG®) announced the opening of its new Holiday Inn® in Mutare, Zimbabwe. The franchised property, owned by African Sun Limited, features 96 rooms, an outdoor pool and a meeting room capable of seating 250 people. It is located in the heart of the city centre with significant business activity across the forestry, citrus farming and mining industries.
India and Zimbabwe have good bilateral relations and strong economic cooperation with trade interest in various sectors such as agriculture, pharmaceutical and diamond trade, amongst others. Mutare is located in the diamond mining region of Zimbabwe and close to the Tete Province, a coal mining region in Mozambique.
Commenting on the announcement, Pascal Gauvin, Chief Operating Officer, India, Middle East and Africa, IHG, said: “Africa represents huge untapped opportunities for a variety of industries across the region. We’re thrilled to announce the opening in Mutare as we believe that it will further support business travel between the India and Africa. We are especially proud to continue working with established partners such as African Sun Limited who also own several other properties with us. We are excited to begin welcoming guests to the Holiday Inn Mutare.”
Edwin T Shangwa, Managing Director, African Sun, said: “We are happy to be partnering with IHG once again. We have successfully launched two Holiday Inn hotels together, and have seen great success across both properties. Now that the hotel has opened its doors, it will benefit equally from IHG’s global distribution systems, strong brand portfolio and loyalty programmes.”
The Holiday Inn Mutare is the third Holiday Inn franchised property with the African Sun Limited. The Holiday Inn Harare and Holiday Inn Bulawayo have both performed to brand standards and present further opportunities for growth. The new Holiday Inn property in Mutare increases IHG and Africa Sun’s footprint to a total of 351 rooms.
IHG currently operates 30 hotels across four brands in South West Asia: InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, and Holiday Inn Express, with a further 39 in the development pipeline due to open in the next three to five years*.
Globally, there are almost 1,200 Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts open, with a further 265 due to open in the next three to five years.
* Figures as at 31st March 2017
