Novotel Sharjah Expo to help boost business tourism

Dubai: Sharjah is looking to boost its offering for business travellers with the opening of the Dh100 million Novotel Sharjah Expo hotel near Expo Centre Sharjah.

United Investment and Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) have signed an agreement to build the hotel, which was announced in March this year.

“We believe that there are big challenges for us to expand our MICE [meetings, incentives, exhibitions and conferences] sector,” Mohammad Ali Al No’man, chairman of the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA), told Gulf News on the sideline of a press conference at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai on Tuesday.

The emirate expects to attract over 2 million visitors this year, up by between 10-11 per cent compared to 1.9 million visitors in 2013.

“We believe there are many components that have to come into place that will help uplift [the MICE sector’s] positioning. [The new hotel] is one of many [projects] in the next one to three years that will come to life that would help our business travellers to find their rightful destination,” Al No’man said.

According to him, there are talks to bring similar hotels near Sharjah’s business districts.

The 4-star hotel, which features 200 rooms and meeting facilities, is operated by France-based Accor, and will be the company’s first hotel in the emirate. It currently has seven hotels under the brand in the UAE, including one near the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).

Novotel Sharjah Expo hotel is expected to open in the first quarter of 2017. While the hotel will target business travellers that visit Expo Centre Sharjah, it will also look to attract leisure travellers.

Sharjah is likely to see 30 new hotels in the next three years, adding around 4,000 rooms to the existing 10,000 rooms.

“Novotel Sharjah Expo is poised to complement Sharjah’s set of hotels, catering for the emirate’s progress in the fields of investment, tourism and economy and highlighting its bright cultural side,” said Shaikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qassemi during the press conference.