ISTITHMAR Hotels, a subsidiary of UAE-based international investment house Istithmar, has signed a master franchise agreement with easyHotel to open a chain of budget hotels across Middle East, North Africa, India and Pakistan.
It recently announced its plans to open eight new budget hotels across India’s metropolitan cities over the next four years. easyHotel.com, a name with a strong reputation amongst budget travellers all over the world, is part of Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s easyGroup of companies, which also includes easyJet.
The tie-up is in line with the inherent demand for budget hotels in the region and will see six hotels in Dubai, three each in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, two in Lebanon, two in Egypt and one each in Sharjah, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, Qatar, Morocco, Turkey, Syria, Libya, Jordan, Tunisia and Algeria. Eight of these will be operational by the end of 2007 and a further 18 will be operational by the end of 2008, with the rest coming online over the following three years. Each hotel will have between 80 and 120 rooms.