Marriott International, the US hotel operator, said the future of its Libyan hotel is undecided as violence continues to sweep the North African country.
The hotel chain opened the five-star, 370-room JW Marriott Tripoli just days before fighting broke out between anti-government rebels and forces loyal to ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
“We had a hotel in Libya that was operating seven days before the incident started. We evacuated the expatriate staff, the Libya staff is still holding the hotel in a suspended operation,” said Ed Fuller, president and managing director for international lodgings.
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“The hotel is suspended; that means closed but not closed permanently. We have staff on site.”
More than 300 civilians have been killed in Libya since February, according to the UK’s Department of International Development. Thousands of migrant workers from the Middle East, Africa and South Asia remain trapped in the country as fighting continues.
Fuller said it was unclear what the long-term strategy would be for the Tripoli hotel.
“We all hope everything is viable in the long term. We will watch this situation carefully. I don’t have an answer to when [it will reopen],” he said.
“Egypt is a clearer path, Libya is immersed in its own situation right now and it’ll take time to figure it out.”
Marriott announced Monday it plans to open the tallest hotel tower building in Dubai in 2010, as part of its plan to operate 74 hotels across the Middle East and North Africa by 2015.
The company currently operates 31 hotels across the MENA region, with a further 37 under development. A further six properties were announced on Monday, bringing the chain’s pipeline to 74 hotels by 2015.
Fuller said a further 26 properties were possible, depending on fast the hotels could be brought online and deals agreed with prospective owners.
“We have increased our development team in the region to five, where it was originally two. While we can only announce officially the 74, we have a vision that we could grow to more as we have so many developers now in the market,” he said.
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