Turkish luxury hotel chain Rixos will expand its operations this year with the addition of five new hotels to its present chain of 16, a move vice president Başak Erel says will win Rixos a foothold in the bargain-priced markets of the Arab Spring and Central Asian nations.
The chain will open hotels in Egypt, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates as well as a hotel in Turkey this year, rounding out the company’s current presence in Turkey, Middle East, North Africa, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Europe bringing the total number of Rixos hotels to 21.
The biggest of the company’s new ventures will be in Egypt, Sharm El Sheikh, where Rixos will open a 700-room hotel on the Red Sea. In the UAE, as previously announced, Rixos Hotels is launching the first all-inclusive hotel of a large magnitude, consisting of 627-rooms in Ras al-Khaimah.
Rixos will be opening its first property in Azerbaijan before the end of 2012 on the Quba Mountain. The hotel which will be spread over 202,000 sq m will consist of 210 rooms serving on a bed and breakfast concept.
Their third property in Kazakhstan, Rixos Borovoe Lake, will be located by the Lake of Borovoe, a popular vacation spot in Kazakhstan.
Rixos’ most lucrative operations remain in Turkey, where the company plans to open the Rixos Bomonty Residences in the heart of Istanbul within the next three months.
“Since 2000, when Rixos Hotels was first established we have always seen the brand expand hastily through the region and internationally. With the opening of Rixos The Palm Dubai in March and Rixos Pera Istanbul in May this year, we truly believe the brand is well on its way to being a leader in the hospitality industry,” added Erel.
“Rixos Hotels has studied the market carefully, and with the current situation across the Middle East, Rixos hotels found the potential to venture its way into Egypt, Ras Al Khaimah, an emirate within the UAE, Azerbaijani city of Quba and the Kazakh capital of Astana, with another additional hotel to open in Istanbul.