InterContinental Hotels Group has opened 'Express by Holiday Inn Dubai Internet City', the group's first limited service hotel in the Middle East.

To mark the occasion IHG hosted a morning launch event to showcase the brand's trademark 'Great Breakfast.'

The breakfast was attended by senior management from InterContinental Hotels Group and developers, Ishraq Gulf Real Estate Holding BSC, both of whom shared the latest plans for the Express by Holiday Inn brand, the fastest growing limited service brand in the world, opening on average two hotels every week around the globe.

Speaking about the plans, Michel Augier, Acting Chief Officer, InterContinental Hotels Group, Middle East & Africa, said, 'The rapid global expansion of the Express by Holiday Inn brand will be mirrored in the Middle East with a growing demand for limited service hotels offering competitive pricing, quality accommodation for both business and leisure travelers and the reassurance that an international brand brings.'

Added Augier, 'Currently, hotel options in the Middle East for travelers on a budget are quite limited, with many people having to select more expensive accommodation in order to guarantee themselves satisfactory levels of amenities and service.  This will now change with the opening of Express by Holiday Inn Dubai Internet City.'

The properties will be operated by Ishraq Gulf Real Estate Holding BSC ©, which is the exclusive developer of the Express by Holiday Inn hotels in all GCC countries, except Saudi Arabia.

Commenting on the opening of Express by Holiday Inn Dubai Internet City, Sami Al Ansari, Chief Executive Officer, Ishraq Gulf Real Estate Holding Co. BSC, said, 'Express by Holiday Inn Dubai Internet City is the first of 22 hotels planned across the GCC countries and Jordan by the end of 2010.  Ishraq believes Dubai is the perfect location for the first of four Express by Holiday Inn properties scheduled to open within the next 18 months, due to the established tourism market.