Dubai: With the second hotel under the DoubleTree brand set to open in Dubai during June this year, Hilton Worldwide is looking to have properties in Abu Dhabi, Oman, Morocco and Tunisia, according to Rudi Jagersbacher, the hotel company’s president for the Middle East and Africa.
He did not comment on when he expects to strike deals in these markets.
Hilton recently opened its first hotel under the DoubleTree, with 359 rooms, in Al Barsha.
The hotel company has 67 hotels in the Middle East and Africa pipeline, of which seven are in the UAE and 16 are in Saudi Arabia, which are expected to open by 2017.
Jagersbacher did not provide his forecast for revenue growth this year over 2013, except to say that he expects “double-digit” growth.
The company, meanwhile, is considering bringing hotels to Dubai World Central (DWC], where the World Expo 2020, which Dubai won the bid to host last year, will take place.
“We are negotiating with two potential owners,” Jagersbacher said.
The exhibition, which will run for six months, is expected to attract 25 million visitors.
