A year after Katara Hospitality announced its new rebranded vision, the company has reached several significant milestones in acquisition, investment, development and operations.
“The new brand provided us a platform for growth and within a time span of 18 months we have tripled our portfolio,” the company’s chief operating officer, Christopher R J Knable, said. “Today we have 25 properties under the Katara Hospitality brand in Qatar and the rest of the world.”
“We are very much on target in achieving our plans of owning 30 hotels by 2016 and 60 by 2030,” he stated.
“Today we have a strong portfolio of hotels in Europe, Africa and Asia,” he added.
Katara Hospitality, which bought Le Royal Monceau in Paris in 2012, will open the Peninsula Paris after renovations later this year. Its second property in Paris, the Buddha Bar hotel, was set to open last month. The company is also redeveloping two properties in Switzerland: the Burgenstock Resort on Lake Lucerne and Royal Savoy in Lausanne.
In Italy, the company acquired the Excelsior Hotel Gallia Milan, the “youngest” hotel in its international portfolio, initially opened in 1932. Currently under a major renovation programme, the property is expected to open later this year.
Katara has also signed agreements with the governments of Gambia and Maldives to develop properties.
“We are always looking for new, exciting opportunities. Our concept of iconic hotels can be looked at from many perspectives. It can be a building that has a meaning within a community, it can be a historic building with a legacy or it can be a unique concept like the Buddha Bar Hotel in Paris. What is imperative is that the property must be emblematic for us and for Qatar as well,” said Knable.
Qatar had announced plans to spend $140 billion on infrastructure by 2019 to diversify its sources of wealth away from energy and prepare for the Fifa World Cup in 2022, including the building of stadiums, hotels and rail links.
“Even before we rebranded as Katara Hospitality, the company has been a pioneer in hospitality in Qatar, investing heavily in developing the city’s infrastructure.
“In Qatar we currently own seven operational properties with Somerset West Bay Doha being the latest addition. In addition, we will break ground this year on the $460-million Iconic Towers in Lusail City, Qatar, which is an architectural translation of Qatar's country seal. The complex is expected to open in 2016,” added Knable.
Katara further strengthened its foothold in the hospitality market when it launched its Merweb brand of mid-market business hotels.
It currently operates the Merwebhotel Al Sadd Doha with plans to open its second hotel, The Merwebhotel City Centre Doha later this year.