InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has announced the Holiday Inn Express Rio Branco in Brazil has broken ground. 

The new-build hotel is scheduled to open in late 2013, just in time for the forthcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

When the property opens, it will be IHG’s first hotel in Rio Branco.

“We are thrilled that this hotel has broken ground in a market that IHG has thrived in since 1946 and knows well,” said Joel Eisemann, chief development officer, IHG, the Americas.

“IHG is committed to working with our partners in Brazil to develop hotels in growing markets where branded, quality lodging options are needed.”

The 110-room Holiday Inn Express Rio Branco is owned by Inter Oceanica Hotelaria Ltda under a license agreement with a company in the InterContinental Hotels Group.

The hotel will be suitably located in the centre of Rio Branco’s downtown area within close distance to multiple tourist attractions.

The nine-story hotel will boast four meeting rooms, an outdoor pool, bar, a fully-equipped business centre and gym.

Rio Branco, the capital of the northwest Brazilian state of Acre and the most populated county in the state, was chosen to be a site of Transoceanic Highway, a major project that connects Rio Branco to the two main ports in Peru.

This encourages trade between Peru and Brazil and opens a market for importing food products and building materials, which Peru is eagerly anticipating, especially with the construction boom and the infrastructure projects that are currently underway for the FIFA World Cup 2014.