THE INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group’s (IHG) first South-east Asian Holiday Inn Express debuted in Bangkok today, with a dozen more properties to open their doors over the next two years across the region.

Located in the Thai capital’s downtown, the 300-room Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Siam focuses on well-designed rooms, streamlined operations and a core range of facilities such as complimentary Wi-Fi and breakfast while offering competitive prices.

In order to maintain a lean business model, various non-guest facing services such as laundry, housekeeping and IT support are outsourced to reliable partners with specialised capabilities. Hotel Inn Express' employees are cross-trained and multi-skilled across all general duties, allowing for fewer staff to be hired.

Jan Smits, CEO of IHG Asia, Middle East and Africa, said: “We’ve seen Holiday Inn Express grow exponentially over the last two decades into a well-established brand in international markets. This points to strong demand for the brand from both our guests and investors."

Another 12 Holiday Inn Express properties are set to open in Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. The brand will also expand across Asia-Pacific, including Greater China, India and Australia.