ONE of the largest hotels and resorts companies in the world, Sol Meliá, has announced it is to launch its first regional hotel in Dubai. The Meliá Dubai, a five-star 164-bedroom ‘urban resort’ will open on October 12 to coincide with Spanish national day. 'This is our first property in the Arabian Gulf and the first step to realising our expansion plans for the region. We are currently negotiating with potential partners in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Jordan and we hope to make further announcements in the near future,' said Andre Gerondeau, executive vice president, hotels division at Sol Meliá Hotels and Resorts. The number of visitors to Dubai from Spain has been increasing steadily. Emirates opened its first daily flight to Madrid last summer and, combined with Iberia’s existing four weekly flights to Dubai, this is expected to improve on the 30,000-plus visitors to the emirate from Spain in 2010. In addition Emirates flies daily to Sao Paulo, with new routes planned to Rio de Janiero and Buenos Aires, all destinations where Meliá has strong brand awareness. According to Daniel Lozano, Meliá brand senior vice president, the Gulf was a strategic step. 'We chose Dubai because this is the commercial hub for the region and we felt our brand attributes would suit such a cosmopolitan market. We believe that our traditional Spanish hospitality can offer a new dimension to customers in the region, while still appealing to Arab guests,' he said. 'Our brand strength in Germany, the UK, Italy and elsewhere in Europe, will give us a competitive edge when we begin our marketing campaigns in these regions for inbound business to Dubai. We can also use that leverage to secure outbound business as well.' Sol Meliá has a total of eight brands each covering a range of market segments and Gran Meliá a luxury brand and ME by Meliá a lifestyle brand are the two brands it feels will appeal most to regional investors and potential guests. The Dh200-million ($54-million) Meliá Dubai will feature five restaurants including a superb fine dining restaurant and signature Indian restaurant Khazana, by celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor, ‘The Level’ a Meliá branded executive floor and a full service spa as well as a rooftop and swimming pool, which will feature a Spanish tapas bar.
