Abu Dhabi: Rotana Hotel Management, the Dubai-based hospitality group, said on Monday it plans to further expand its presence in the UAE, with plans to open nine new hotels in the country over the next five years.
The group plans four new properties in Abu Dhabi and five in Dubai, according to Guy Hutchinson, Rotana’s chief operating officer.
They will add a total of 3,598 rooms, bringing Rotana’s rooms in the UAE to 9,584, and taking the number of Rotana properties in the country to 44 by 2020.
The nine hotels will include five under the ‘Rotana Hotels and Resorts’ brand, three under the ‘Arjaan hotel apartments by Rotana’ brand, and one under the affordable brand, ‘Centro by Rotana.’
Hutchinson was speaking during the hotel group’s 2016 GCC Roadshow, during which Rotana signalled its intent to launch new projects in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and the UAE, the company said in a statement on Monday.
Rotana announced the opening of five new hotels in Saudi Arabia in 2016, three new hotels in Qatar, and one hotel in Kuwait by the end of 2018.
Hutchinson said that the GCC remains the largest source market for Rotana properties in the UAE and elsewhere. He added that increased tourist arrivals from the GCC could help the UAE’s hospitality industry maintain its growth pace in 2016 considering challenges stemming from lower demand from Russian tourists on the back of a falling ruble.
Around 37 per cent of Rotana’s room nights and 40 per cent of the group’s room revenue are generated from the GCC region.
“Although the market environment continues to remain challenging, we see many positive trends and developments that could yet propel hospitality growth in the region in the year ahead – such as increased infrastructure spending by GCC governments, continuing rise in intra-regional travel percentage, and the rapid growth of Mice [Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Events] tourism,” Hutchinson stated.
