Rotana continues expansion with ten properties

Hotelier Middle East Staff, May 4th, 2014

Rotana has signed 10 new properties in the Middle East and Africa, including its first hotels in Iran, confirming details ahead of the Arabian Travel Market show.

The company said in a statement that it expects to open the doors to all the hotels before 2020.

Five of the new hotels will be in Dubai, increasing its total number of properties in the emirate to 20.

In 2017 it will open two hotels, with 280 rooms combined, in the Creek, while a 163-room property will open in All Barsha under the Arjaan Hotel Apartments by Rotana brand the following year.

Rotana will also launch a 528-room hotel under the Rotana Hotels & Resort brand, combined with a 100-room property under the Arjaan Hotel Apartments by Rotana brand, in the Wafi area by 2018. The new properties will bring Rotana's total number of rooms in the UAE to 13,518.

"Dubai continues to be a focus market for us and with Expo 2020 expected to further boost an already strong hospitality market, we plan on widening our footprint in the emirate. The new hotels will enable us to strengthen our market share in high demand areas," said Rotana president & CEO Omer Kaddouri.

Rotana will enter the Iranian market with four properties, all of which will be opened under the company's alcohol-free brand Rayhaan Hotels & Resorts by Rotana.

A new hotel signed in Sudan will mark the arrival of the second Rotana property in the Sudanese capital, following the Al Salam Rotana property in Khartoum. The hotel is set to open its doors by 2019 with 221 rooms.

Rotana has also signed on a 249-room project in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam.

Kaddouri added: "The opening of these new hotels in these four markets falls in line with our strategic goal to operate 100 hotels by 2020.

"These are in addition to the properties announced earlier which will open in Turkey, Erbil, Jordan and Qatar. As the Middle East's most successful homegrown hospitality brand, we believe we are well positioned to execute these expansion plans and to venture into new territories."