IHG Hotels & Resorts plans to have all six of its Luxury & Lifestyle brands operating in Saudi Arabia by 2028, with a hotel for every brand either already open or in the pipeline. The move sharpens IHG’s position in one of its most important global growth markets and ties the group tightly to the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 tourism agenda.
IHG’s Saudi story started in 1975 with InterContinental Riyadh. Five decades on, the Kingdom carries one of the group’s largest pipelines anywhere in the world. The company now counts 48 open hotels and 62 in the pipeline across the country, spanning Luxury & Lifestyle, Premium, Essentials and Suites, breadth that lets a single operator serve everything from religious and business travel to leisure and design-led luxury.
The Luxury & Lifestyle lineup runs across InterContinental, Six Senses, Regent, Hotel Indigo, Vignette Collection and Kimpton. Several markers are already on the board: the recent opening of Kimpton KAFD Riyadh brought the Kimpton brand to the Middle East for the first time, and Six Senses Southern Dunes at The Red Sea opened back in December 2023. Ahead lie Six Senses Amaala in 2026, Six Senses AlUla in 2027, Regent Jeddah Corniche in 2027 (the first Regent in the region) and Hotel Indigo & Residences Al Khobar in 2028.
Saudi Arabia is chasing 150 million visitors by 2030, and that ambition has turned it into a magnet for global operators. IHG is leaning into the demand for distinctive, culturally rooted luxury rather than cookie-cutter rooms.
“We are not simply growing our footprint; we are helping shape the future.”
That framing came from Haitham Mattar, IHG’s managing director for the Middle East, Africa and Southwest Asia. Maher Abou Nasr, managing director for Saudi Arabia, added that the growth is intentional and closely aligned with the Kingdom’s direction, pointing to a dedicated Riyadh office IHG set up in 2023 to sit closer to owners and partners.
For investors and owners tracking expansion opportunities across MENA, IHG’s play is a template. A global operator is committing its full luxury stable to one market, giving owners access to recognised brands, commercial systems and operating depth while the destination itself does the demand-generation through Vision 2030. That combination, a reforming market plus a brand-rich operator, is exactly what pulls capital into cross-border hospitality deals.
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Saudi Arabia has spent the past few years signing hotel deals at a pace few markets can match. IHG’s decision to commit every luxury and lifestyle brand it owns is a vote of confidence that the Kingdom’s tourism build-out is real, and a reminder that the operators moving first will hold the strongest positions when the visitors arrive.
Source: IHG Hotels & Resorts — IHG to introduce all its Luxury & Lifestyle brands to Saudi Arabia by 2028
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