Partnership will give Seera Group access to IHG’s global portfolio of over 5,600 hotels

Saudi, 28 April 2019: IHG® (InterContinental Hotels Group), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, has signed a global partnership agreement with Seera Group, the largest travel and tourism company in the Middle East with a prominent local, regional and international presence. The significant direct connectivity distribution agreement, which was announced at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2019, will provide Seera Group (formerly Al Tayyar Travel Group) with access to IHG’s current global portfolio of 15 brands and over 5600 hotels, in more than 100 countries, for the leisure travel category. 

Seera Group will also have access to automated real-time pricing and inventory across IHG’s portfolio.

Commenting on the signing, Pascal Gauvin, Managing Director, IMEA, IHG, said: “We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Seera Group. IHG has ambitious growth aspirations for the region, and the exciting agreement will allow us to connect with a wider audience of leisure travellers. Leisure travel is a growing category amongst the region’s domestic and outbound travellers, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with a number of projects initiated under the KSA National Vision 2030. Our global portfolio of well-known brands and hotels, coupled with the partnership, will allow us to be able to bring both greater awareness and choice to the travellers in the region.” 

The agreement will provide IHG with access to Seera Group’s extensive regional network of retail branches and call centres, as well as the group’s leading consumer travel brand Almosafer and its UAE-focused OTA tajawal, strengthening IHG’s visibility and sales capabilities. 

Abdullah Al Dawood, CEO of Seera Group, said: “Our customers remain at the heart of all our transformation, expansion and partnership plans. As IHG has an extensive global footprint and an expansive property portfolio – a direct partnership agreement offers competitive rates and last-minute availability on properties worldwide, with the booking experience our customers expect. Seera Group is fast becoming the partner of choice for hotel brands looking to harness the power of the Middle East’s travel industry, and with a new partnership, IHG will gain exposure to our offline and online travellers in the region, as we have the largest travel platform in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East; with 180 million online sessions expected for 2019.

IHG currently operates 91 hotels across 6 brands in the Middle East, including: InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, voco™, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn®, Holiday Inn Express® , Staybridge Suites®  and voco with a further 37 in the development pipeline due to open within the next three to five years**.