IHG® will open a brand-new Holiday Inn in Queenstown Remarkables Park following the signing of an agreement with property owner QLong Investments Limited.

Set to open its doors in early 2021, Holiday Inn Queenstown Remarkables Park will be a flagship for Holiday Inn in New Zealand, showing off the latest and best of the world’s largest hotel brand family.

The 182 room build will be conveniently located within a few minutes’ drive from Queenstown Airport and close to The Remarkables Ski Field, perfectly positioned and easily accessible to visitors, families and holidaying groups. It will feature an all-day dining and bar venue, as well as large meeting facilities and a gym for guests.

Abhijay Sandilya, IHG’s Senior Director of Development – Australasia, commented: “Holiday Inn is famous for bringing special experiences to guests around the globe. With a company focus on growing our brands into regional areas, we are thrilled to partner with QLong Investments to bring a stunning new Holiday Inn to New Zealand. Our existing hotels in Queenstown are performing extremely well, and this new Holiday Inn will complement them perfectly, along with the upcoming Holiday Inn Express which will open in 2020.”

Yigang Wang, Director of QLong Investments, said: “Queenstown is a tourism mecca, attracting more than 3.6 million visitor nights annually with an expanding events calendar that attracts domestic and overseas visitors. We expect this momentum to continue, and are confident that Holiday Inn Queenstown Remarkables Park will contribute to that success.”

Sheng Du, the shareholder and director of QLong Investments, said: “Long owns hotels and apartments in USA and China, excited to be expanding our portfolio into New Zealand, and Queenstown which is such a favourite with tourists from around the world.”

The hotel will make a significant contribution to the growth of Remarkables Park, adding a unique point of difference to the 150-hectare multi-use retail, resort, residential and recreational zone. Holiday Inn will be located a few hundred metres from the retail and commercial centre of the Park, which is currently home to 65 businesses. There are also plans to add student accommodation, more residential, a retirement village, childcare, hospital, and a jet ferry service connecting Remarkables Quay to Queenstown Bay and parks and trails.

Remarkables Ski Fields is one of New Zealand’s premier ski fields and just a short 30-minute drive away, and Jack’s Point Golf Course is just a short 10-minute drive from the hotel.

IHG has put a focus on regional growth in Australia and New Zealand, with several recent Holiday Inn signings across Australia, including in Wagga Wagga, Melbourne Dandenong, Geelong, Melbourne Ringwood, Melbourne Coburg and Melbourne Werribee, which are all new build properties that will set a benchmark for the brand in the region.

IHG currently has 47 hotels operating under four brands in Australasia, including: InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, voco and Holiday Inn Express, with another 29 in the pipeline, including Hotel Indigo and EVEN Hotels.

*Numbers correct as at end 31 December 2018