Rezidor to open 221-room hotel in Makkah

Dubai: European hotel group Rezidor has signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia's Al Diyafa Real Estate Company to open a 221-room property in Makkah under its mid-market brand Park Inn.

It is the company's fourth agreement for the brand in the Middle East.

Rezidor has three more Park Inn hotels under development in Muscat, Riyadh and Al Khobar with a total of 581 rooms. The Al Diyafa Park Inn Makkah will be located about three kilometres from the Masjid Al Haram and is scheduled to open in early 2009.

"Saudi Arabia is one of our major growth markets. Religious tourism will be our main focus but we are also targeting the growing corporate sector," said Jean-Marc Busato, area vice-president of the Brussels-based Rezidor Group.

The first Middle East Park Inn will open in Al Khobar in eastern Saudi Arabia by the end of 2007.

A second property is scheduled to open in Olaya, Riyadh, with 252 guestrooms.

Rezidor operates 15 hotels in the Middle East, including three in the UAE. It has 13 hotels under development, which will increase its room inventory from the existing 3,878 to 7,695 by 2010.