ROTANA Hotels has signed nine new major agreements for properties worth in excess of Dh3 billion ($817 million), on top of the 10 properties already under construction.
In addition to the 21 properties already in operation, this brings the group’s portfolio to 40 hotels by 2008, with a total room capacity of 10,000 rooms, up from the present 4,718 rooms.
Nasser Al Nowais, chairman of Rotana Hotels said: “We ended 2005 with the launch of our new brand of hotels, Centro, which is a well needed product in the Middle East and we begin 2006 with an expansion that both takes us into new markets such as Jordan and Bahrain and increases our portfolio in the UAE.”
Negotiations are also currently under way for properties in Cairo, Jeddah and Riyadh.
“Rotana aims to be the leading and preferred hospitality management company operating hotels, suites and resorts within the Middle East. Its growth at 30 per cent in terms of revenues has been exceptional, rising to Dh750 million in 2005 against Dh560 million in the previous year,” said CEO Selim El Zyr. The group has a 15 per cent share in the hotel business in Abu Dhabi and between four and five per cent in Dubai.
The first of the new properties will open August 2006. The BurJuman Rotana Suites in Dubai, will host fully serviced, one-bedroom suites, duplex townhouses and a penthouse, all adjoining the city’s BurJuman mall. Also in Dubai, Rotana Hotels will open in mid-2007 the Media City Rotana Hotel with 467 rooms and suites. In Abu Dhabi, in a joint venture with the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority and Al-Mada Tourism Investment Company, Rotana will open the Park Rotana Hotel & Suites with 250 rooms, 300 apartments as well as office and residential space at the end of 2007. Expected to open in mid-2008 is the UAE’s Fujairah Rotana Suites, with 252 rooms.
Further afield, the company is hopes to open its first property in Bahrain by mid-2008, the Bahrain Rotana Hotel, with 300 luxurious rooms and suites. Also on the plans is the Amman Rotana Hotel, with 450 rooms and suites.
Three Centro properties will open doors from the end of 2007 to mid-2008, including two in Dubai, at Satwa and Al Barsha, and one in Abu Dhabi.
The group achieved record results in 2005, with revenues exceeding those of 2004 by 30 per cent and an average occupancy reaching 80 per cent.