Holiday Inn has rolled out “Elite Gaming Pods” at four of its hotels in Saudi Arabia, part of a new partnership with EStars, a global educational esports provider, as the hospitality brand looks to add interactive entertainment options for guests. The initiative, launched under IHG Hotels & Resorts’ Essentials Collection, positions gaming as a core part of the in-hotel leisure experience rather than a peripheral add-on.
The pods are designed to give travellers, particularly families and groups, a dedicated space to game, unwind and socialise during their stay. Rather than treating gaming as a niche offering confined to a small lounge or arcade corner, the pods are being marketed as an integrated amenity meant to keep guests engaged on-site, adding another reason to linger at the property beyond the room and restaurant.
While specific hotel names, capacity figures and pricing have not been disclosed, the rollout across four properties suggests an initial or pilot phase that could be expanded further depending on guest uptake and demand across the Kingdom.
A bet on Saudi Arabia’s booming gaming economy
The move comes as Saudi Arabia continues to position itself as a regional and global hub for gaming and esports. The Kingdom has been pouring investment into gaming infrastructure, tournaments and entertainment ventures in recent years, part of a broader economic diversification push away from oil dependency and toward technology, entertainment and youth-oriented sectors under Vision 2030.
For hospitality brands, tapping into that momentum offers a way to differentiate their offering in a competitive Gulf market where hotels increasingly compete on experience rather than room amenities alone. By embedding gaming directly into the guest journey, Holiday Inn is aligning its family and leisure travel offering with one of the region’s fastest-growing entertainment segments.
The partnership with EStars, which specialises in educational esports, also signals an attempt to frame gaming not purely as recreation but as a structured, family-friendly activity, potentially appealing to parents who might otherwise be wary of unstructured screen time for children during travel.
For the wider GCC hospitality sector, the launch is likely to be watched closely. Saudi Arabia’s gaming ecosystem has grown rapidly, drawing global tournaments, publishers and investment funds, and hotel operators across the Gulf have been exploring ways to capture spending from a young, digitally engaged demographic. If the Holiday Inn pilot proves popular, similar amenities could find their way into other regional markets, including the UAE, where esports and gaming investment has also been expanding alongside broader entertainment and tourism diversification efforts.
For now, the pods remain limited to four Saudi properties, with no confirmed timeline for a wider regional expansion. IHG has not detailed how the partnership with EStars will evolve beyond the initial installations, leaving open the question of whether gaming pods become a standard fixture across the Essentials Collection or remain a market-specific experiment tied to Saudi Arabia’s particular appetite for gaming-driven leisure and tourism growth.
