InterContinental Hotels Group has signed a franchise agreement with Choice Decisions 65 for the 151-room Holiday Inn Johannesburg Airport. Expected to open in the first quarter of this year, the new Holiday Inn will be a conversion of the current Airport Grand Hotel & Conference Centre.

Featuring a selection of meeting rooms and function space, the hotel is well equipped for hosting events or private business meetings. Guests can enjoy food and beverage in the hotel’s restaurant and two bars. Located close to the Airport, guests staying on business are also guaranteed convenient access to Sandton Convention Centre as well as the major city centres of Pretoria and Johannesburg.

Holiday Inn Johannesburg Airport will be the second IHG hotel in Africa with the operators who also manage Crowne Plaza Nairobi. This will be IHG’s third Holiday Inn hotel in South Africa. As with all Holiday Inn hotels, guests can expect the ideal mix of business and leisure in an inviting and comfortable environment.

Pascal Gauvin, Chief Operating Officer, India, Middle East and Africa, IHG, said: “Holiday Inn has enjoyed a long and successful history in South Africa since we launched our first hotel in Johannesburg in 1971. Today South Africa ranks amongst the top business events and leisure travel destinations in Africa and we are confident in the market’s long-term growth potential.”

“Choice Decisions 65 (Pty) Ltd is a reputable hotel developer with a strong track record as a hotel developer and we are delighted to be working with them again. We are confident Holiday Inn Johannesburg Airport will be the hotel of choice for travellers looking for a comfortable and reliable stay in South Africa,” he added.

Nazir Akbarali, Chief Executive Officer, Choice Decisions 65 (Pty) Ltd, said: “We have been working with IHG for many years – on earlier Holiday Inn properties we developed with them in Canada and the current Crowne Plaza Nairobi. Our partnership with them has been very successful and we are pleased to be managing our second hotel with them in Africa. We look forward to welcoming guests when the doors to the new Holiday Inn Johannesburg Airport open early this year.”

IHG currently has 29 hotels open on the continent of Africa across five brands: InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge Suites, and a further six hotels in the pipeline. Across the Asia, Middle East and Africa region there are 84 Holiday Inn hotels totalling more than 19,400 rooms, with an additional 48 hotels due to open in the next three to five years.