KEEPING up with its growth plans, Golden Tulip Middle East and North Africa is planning to open its fourth property in Lebanon, the Golden Tulip Jiyeh Marina Resort, next month.
The Golden Tulip brand is part of Louvre Hotels Group that comprises six prestigious hospitality brands and occupies second place in Europe and with worldwide. With more than 1,000 hotels in 42 countries and 70 hotels across the Middle East and North Africa, Golden Tulip’s president Dr Amine Moukarzel reveals to TTN how he plans to keep up the growth momentum...
How has business fared for Golden Tulip Hotels & Resorts in 2012 and in the Q1 2013 so far?
The overall business environment in the region has improved and we have seen many destinations in the region have shown resistant with the Arab Spring. We have seen several new hotels developments in cities like Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, which has affected occupancy and average rate negatively, as supply does not tally with the demand.
Markets like Cairo, Tunisia, Beirut have definitely been affected negatively especially in the second half of 2012 and Q1 2013, but we believe that we can overcome these elements in the future.
You have a huge development plan for Saudi Arabia. How does your portfolio stand today and how many hotels can we expect to see in the near future?
Yes, we have big plans for Saudi Arabia. Our development plan in the Kingdom will go hand in hand with the huge growth the country is witnessing.
As a developer Saudi Arabia offers so much prospect for growth -from the holy cities Mecca and Medina; the trading city, Jeddah; the official and governmental city, Riyadh; the leisure and oil cities – Dammam, Al Khobar and secondary cities’– Al Jubail, Yanbu, Najran, Al Taief, Hail, Tabuk, the opportunities are huge.
We have a plan to reach 30 hotels in the next 12 months and will work closely with our owners and employee to develop them.
What are the development plans for Golden Tulip? Will we see you enter any new markets in the near future?
For Golden Tulip Hotels Suites and Resorts in the Mena region, we are on track to open 100 hotels in the next 12 months, together with the support and drive from Louvre Hotels and Starwood Capital. The Louvre Hotels Group provides a great synergy to the brand marketing, strength and integrity as it celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
We will take the brand to new markets like in Georgia -Tbilisi, Telavi, Borjomi and Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan, with properties planned in Turkey Morocco, Brazil and the ASPAC. Our regional efforts have paid dividends where we are opening the Royal Tulip in Amwaj Island, Bahrain. We recently also opened in Annaba-Algeria and our aim is to reach several cities in Algeria including Skikkda, Constantine and the capital Algiers.
In Lebanon, we have three hotels in operation and will soon add our fourth property, the Golden Tulip Jiyeh Marina Resort and Spa. We also have plans to open a property in Doha, Qatar.
Will we see more diversification of the Louvre brands in the region? What are your plans?
The Louvre Hotels brand currently offers the two-star Premier Classe, three-star Campanile and four-star Golden Tulip thus complementing our portfolio and enhancing our shareholders return and providing a great employment platform with respect to the local culture and local national requirements.
The Louvre Hotels Group will continue to cater to all segments in the market place with added emphasis on the budget hotels.
Campanile and Premier Class have a great place in the market place and we are in discussions to launch it in more countries.