Dubai: Qatar National Hotels Company announced yesterday it had rebranded as Katara Hospitality and outlined its long-term growth strategy to seek further acquisitions in Europe and the United States.
The firm said its decision to implement a new corporate identity reflected its international expansion plans and was in line with Qatar's 2030 plan for econ-omic diversification.
Katara Hospitality, which counts the iconic Raffles Hotel Singapore and Le Royal Monceau Raffles hotel in Paris among its assets, plans to move forward through a combination of organic growth and a series of mergers and acquisitions.
"Absolutely, it is the right time to look at possible mergers and acquisitions in Europe and the US," said Shaikh Nawaf Bin Jasem Bin Jaber Al Thani, Katara Hospitality's chairman, on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai. "We are a cash rich company and we will be investing from that cash. After about five or six years we will start to deleverage our assets because in that time we plan to consume our capital," he added.
Al Thani said Katara was looking to expand its inventory overseas along with further monopolising its hold on Qatar's hotel industry.
Under development
The firm has more than 4,000 hotel rooms already in operation or under construction and a number of openings are on the horizon including two Qatar based projects in the Marina district of the new Lusail City and the Merwebhotel City Centre Doha. Three new European properties are also slated to come online this year; the Royal Savoy Lausanne in Switzerland, the Gallia Hotel, Milan and the Peninsula Hotel, Paris.
"Our focus on international expansion began in 2006 with the acquisition of the Renaissance Sharm Al Shaikh Golden View Beach Resort in Egypt and we currently have 24 hotels operational or under development in eight international destinations," said Hamad Abdullah Al Mulla, Katara Hospitality's chief executive officer. "We are looking to increase that to 30 properties by 2016 and double that figure by 2030 to 60 hotels and resorts around the world," he added.
The new identity was designed by branding consultancy Lambie-Nairn with the word ‘Catara' historically referring to the Qatar Peninsula before European cartographers started to use the spelling ‘Katara'.
