Welcome to HotelierMiddleEast.com's rolling live coverage of day two Arabian Travel Market 2014. We'll bring you all the latest announcements from the event at Dubai World Trade Centre, exclusive news and essential industry gossip...
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06.00pm: We're almost at the end of another day here at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The halfway point of ATM 2014 has arrived and there is no doubt still plenty of news, announcements and gossip to come. We'll all be back here tomorrow, so we hope you'll join us again.
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05.55pm: HotelierMiddleEast.com spoke to the GM of Royal Rose Hotel in Abu Dhabi, which has had its soft opening over the last few months. He told us about how the hotel will be making a push for more Chinese guests with a numebr of staff speaking the language, Chinese food and even Chinese TV channels.
05.45pm: Gloria Hotels has announced the Gloria Downtown Hotel in Abu Dhabi is to open its doors in Q4 this year. A 300 – room hotel is also confirmed for Jeddah and Freddy Farid, area general manager is hoping that the company will secure a deal for a Gloria hotel in Muscat by September. Fingers crossed!
Gloria Hotels & Resorts is also looking to work with more tour operators to attract the South American and South African MICE markets. If you’re a tour operator and you want to find out more, why not visit the team at the Gloria Hotels & Resorts stand – HC5470?
05.40pm: Al Khozama Management company is to open 5000 rooms within 10 years in major cities in Saudi Arabia across its brands. The company which currently has six operating hotels will add four additional hotels.. more to come on this story shortly. As it stands, there are no plans for development outside KSA due to the company’s strict Shari’ah compliancy.
05.30pm: It’s back! Tsogo Sun has finally re-entered the UAE with the opening of Southern Sun Abu Dhabi, located in the capital’s Tourist Club area. Tsogo Sun formerly operated two hotels in Downtown Dubai , Qamardeen and Al Manzil, before owner Emaar took management in house. The properties have since been rebranded as Vida Downtown Dubai and Manzil Downtown Dubai, with the latter just announced at ATM yesterday.
05.15pm: More news in from Accor, which is set to complete its first Ibis Styles hotel in the Middle East by the end of the year, with a view to opening early in 2015. The 249-room hotel is part of owner Nakheel’s extension of Dragon Mart in Dubai, located on the road to Hatta. Accor expects demand for more Ibis Styles, which don’t need to follow the rigid design of the traditional Ibis brand, with franchising expected to be a route to expansion. The French operator will also have four Adagio aparthotels open in the Middle East by the end of 2014, with three more under development in Saudi Arabia. In total, Accor has opened six hotels in the region so far this year, with eight more to come.
05.00pm: Six Senses has been quiet for a while, but our exclusive interview with the company’s president Bernhard Bohnenberger, better known as BB, reveals a wealth of projects under development, some not too far from home! Under construction are projects in Bhutan, China and Seychelles, while there are resorts under design in Taiwan and Tunisia. In the Middle East, BB revealed talks were underway in Saudi Arabia and for a “remote site in Abu Dhabi”, and that a project signed several years ago in Oman was still on the cards. He said development of Six Senses Spas was also accelerating, with the long-awaited Six Senses Spa at Al Bustan Palace, a Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Muscat due to open by the end of this year. Keep an eye on HotelierMiddleEast.com for more news from Six Senses!
04.45pm: Minor Hotel Group has taken over the management of the former Le Meridien Barbarons Beach Hotel in the Seychelles, which is currently closed for an eight-month renovation. It will re-open in the fourth quarter of 2014 following a US &8mn refurbishment as the Avani Seychelles Barbarons Resort & Spa.
04:30pm: Hotels in Ras Al Khaimah reported a combined revenue of US $400 million in 2013, not including the US$ 250million in F&B revenue. RK TDA's Steven Rice revealed Q1 hotel revenues in the emirate are up $250mn year-to-date.
04:25pm: Hotelier just met with RAK TDA CEO Steven Rice, who told us the 442-key Crowne Plaza RAK, which was planned for a 2015 opening is currently on hold, with no opening date in sight.
04:15pm: FRHI Hotels & Resorts has announced seven new hotels for the MEA and India region. In Saudi Arabia, FRHI has signed the Raffles Jeddah, which will feature 188 branded residences and 80 guestrooms. A second hotel in he city - Swissotel Jeddah- will feature 350 guest rooms, executive rooms, and suites. In the UAE, the group has signed a 276-key Swissotel Jaddaf in the AlJaddaf mixed-use development by Aabar Properties. Three hotels in the pipeline for Egypt include a 689-key Fairmont Citystars Sharm El Sheikh; the 400-key Swissotel Citystars Sharm El Sheikh; and a 300-key Raffles Citystars Sharm El Sheikh. In Nigeria, the group will open a 270-key Fairmont Lagos.
04.00pm: Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has revealed plans for a new hotel in Jeddah. The 230-room Mövenpick Hotel Heraa Jeddah will be the group’s third property in the city.
03.45pm: Gulf Hotels CEO Aqeel Raee has revealed that the Bahrain-based hospitality group has acquired land for the construction of a five-star, 230-room hotel in Business Bay, Dubai, that will open in 2017.
03.35pm: Tongues are wagging about various exciting facilities at the upcoming Starwood hotel complex on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai — comprising three hotels under the W, Westin and St. Regis brands and being developed by Dubai-based Habtoor. One of the highlights for music lovers is that Dubai is set to get its own branch of Jazz At Lincoln Centre, the New York jazz club already successful at St. Regis in Doha. The venue in Dubai is believed to overlook the theatre under development in the middle of the hotel complex. Hotelier was at the Doha club a matter of weeks ago and on a Monday night, the venue was full, so one can only imagine the popularity of such a concept in Dubai!
03:20pm: EXCLUSIVE: Hyatt is planning two mid-market hotels in Makkah - Hyatt Place and Hyatt House (extended stay brand) - both to open by 2016/2017. They are also looking at rolling out more Hyatt Place properties in the region.
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