Ramee Group plans Dh5b outlay to develop 15 hospitality projects

Dubai: Ramee Group of hotels, which operates 31 mid-sized hotels in the GCC and India, is investing Dh5 billion in 15 new projects in the Gulf and India, a top official said.

These include three five-star properties in Dubai, four projects in Bahrain and three hotels in India.

"Of these, Dh2.7 billion will be invested in the UAE, Dh1.3 billion in Bahrain and a further Dh1 billion in India," Raj Shetty, chairman and managing worker of Ramee Group, told Gulf News.

Shetty, 48, who started business in 1983 by setting up a small restaurant in Dubai, calls himself a managing 'worker'.

He said the current global financial crisis wouldn't hamper his growth plan.

"We are not worried about the current market conditions," he said. "The UAE's tourism market is still growing and we are confident of leveraging that growth.

"Besides, most of our guests come from the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia. We hardly get any American tourists."

Ramee Group is one Dubai's home-grown hotel chains that has made it big, benefiting from the opportunities created by the city's phenomenal growth.

The company, which started 25 years ago in Deira with a small eatery, grew from one three-star hotel in Al Ras area in 1986 to 31 hotels with 2,170 rooms served by 4,000 employees in 2008. "I started my first hotel with $1.5 million which at that time, was a large amount," he said.

Out of the 31 properties, 14 are in the UAE, including 10 in Dubai and 10 in Bahrain. Out of the 31 hotels, the company owns about 13 properties, the rest being on long-term lease.

All 31 properties belong to either three-star of four-star category.

The company has purchased three plots - one in Business Bay and in Downtown Jebel Ali and a third one in Reem Island in Abu Dhabi - to develop five-star hotels under "Ramee Grand Hotel" brand.

Each of the hotels will have 175 guest rooms, food and beverage outlets and banquet halls. All these hotels will commence operations during 2011-2012.

"The new announcement are for four- and five-star luxury hotels," Shetty said.

"All these years, we did not venture into the five-star properties, because we wanted to develop our own competencies. Our core competencies are in three- and four-star hotels."

In Bahrain, it has purchased four plots for developing one four-star, one five-star hotel and two furnished apartments (400 rooms), which again will be branded under Ramee Grand Hotel and will be operational by 2011.

In India, Shetty said his company has already started construction to build one five-star hotel in Bengaluru, Karnataka and two four-star hotels in Mumbai and Pune.

In addition, it has purchased a shopping mall of 200,000 square feet in Chennai and commenced construction of commercial complex in Mumbai with an investment outlay of Dh1.3 billion.