Dubai: US-headquartered Valor Hospitality Partners has launched a joint venture with Investment Corp. of Dubai’s Hospitality and Leisure llc to take on potential hotel management contracts in the Middle East.
The new entity – Valor Hospitality Partners DMCC – feels that the market is ripe for its entry. “Leading global hotel groups have a majority of their hotels under franchise operations, and with Valor Hospitality enjoying preferred status or close partnerships with these hotel groups, the joint venture aims to create more momentum in the industry regionally,” a statement said.
“Valor brings global knowledge of the business model, deployed through local experts with hands-on experience in the region,” said a spokesperson at ICD. “The Dubai tourism sector has shown its resilience, particularly during the pandemic.
“This may be a good time to further diversify the hospitality sector, and adapt the way hotel assets are managed, to create more value within tourism.”
Valor Hospitality Partners focusses on third-party hotel management. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, it has over 85 hotels in the portfolio and is ‘rapidly expanding further within the Middle East, CIS, and Indian Ocean regions’.
The regional operations launched in 2018. “With Dubai’s reputation as a leading tourism hub it made sense to launch Valor Middle East here in 2018, as it was our intention to bring creative and innovative solutions to the region, making it the first global third-party operator to enter the market” said Julien Bergue, co-founder and Managing Partner of Valor Hospitality Partners Middle East.
A regional outlook
The new entity formed - Valor Hospitality Partners DMCC – will work towards a regional presence through hotel management agreements with hotel owners.
“Many owners are looking to franchise for growth, and this allows us to further develop our third-party management operations platform jointly in the Middle East,” said Euan McGlashan, CEO and co-founder of Valor Hospitality Partners.
“The timing could not be better as the Middle Eastern hospitality and tourism sector has reached a level of maturity for this model to gain traction rapidly. The franchise is largely standard and has enjoyed longevity and success in the USA and Europe, with owners wanting more control and insight into their assets, while it allows hotel brands to scale and grow their footprint faster.”
