The Rezidor Hotel Group plans to expand the Park Inn brand globally over the next three years, with new openings announced in Norway, Poland, Tunisia and Dubai.
Rezidor’s seventh Park Inn in Norway, the 110-room Park Inn Steinkjer, in Nord-Trøndelag county, will open in early 2011 and will feature an all day dining restaurant and meeting space. The hotel is located next to a water park, spa and a gallery exhibiting the work of the late Jakob Weidemann, an influential abstract artist in Norway’s 1950s modernist art movement.
Kurt Ritter, president and chief executive of Rezidor, commented that Norway is one of the hotel group’s most important markets. “With almost 6,000 rooms in operation, the country accounts for 10 per cent of our existing portfolio,” he said.
In Eastern Europe, the 206-room Park Inn Wroclaw is due to open in 2012, in time for Poland hosting the UEFA European Football Championship. It will be the second Park Inn in Poland, after the Park Inn Krakow which opened earlier this year – see online news May 2. When it opens, it will be the nearest hotel to Mikolaj Kopernik International Airport and will feature a restaurant and lobby bar, as well as conference facilities spread over 800sqm.
The group’s portfolio in Eastern Europe now stands at 75 hotels with 18,000 rooms in operation and under development, “a clear sign for our commitment to this emerging region,” commented Ritter. Wroc?aw is Poland’s fourth-largest city and the major industrial, commercial and educational centre for the region.
In Africa, the Park Inn Ulysse Resort & Thalasso, Djerba will be the first Park Inn to open in Tunisia. The hotel, due to open in November, will have 259 rooms, nine restaurants and bars, including a local Tunisian style restaurant, plus a spa with indoor and outdoor pools, a fitness area and four tennis courts. It will be located next to Rezidor’s existing Radisson Blu Resort, a short ferry ride from Tunisia’s mainland and 19 kilometres from the international airport.
In the Middle East, a new Park Inn will open in Dubai in 2012. The 220-room Park Inn Bur Dubai will be situated close to the airport, Sheikh Zayed Road and the growing medical tourism area, with the American Hospital Dubai and Dubai Health Care City both nearby.
Park Inn Bur Dubai will offer a rooftop swimming pool, meeting space and three restaurants, including the trademark RBG (Red Bar & Grill). Ritter said: “Our portfolio in Middle East now boasts more than 40 hotels and close to 11,000 rooms in operation and under development.” The Park Inn brand debuted in Saudi Arabia this year with the Park Inn Al Khobar, which opened in March.
Park Inn launched in 2003 and today has more than 125 hotels in operation and under development in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Visit parkinn.com
Report by Sara Turner
