We'll have 100 operating hotels by 2020 and by that time we'll have about another 100 in the pipeline so we've got a very busy seven years ahead of us"
Organic expansion
Reflecting this strategy, the company is spreading its wings into neighbouring markets such as Iran, where four new signings were announced during Arabian Travel Market in May this year.
The first Iran hotel, a 362-room Rayhaan Hotels & Resorts property is due to open in 2017, with three more to follow by 2020. Iran, along with Saudi Arabia, Africa and India according to Kaddouri, are focus areas for the company going forward.
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“Iran is a big market for us in the region; although it is not necessarily in the Arab world. India is another major focus for us as well, so we’re really busy trying to sign up new hotels in key destinations where we are not present today — we can definitely handle these new properties,” he boasts.
In April, Rotana announced the signing of a hotel in Tanzania, marking the company’s first venture in the country, and the first Rotana hotel in East Africa, while a hotel is currently under construction in Mauritania, West Africa.
In the north of the continent, the group has hotels in Egypt and Sudan and signings have been completed for hotels in Morocco and Algeria. Having conquered three corners of Africa, Kaddouri expresses a wish to “get busy in the Sub Saharan region toward South Africa”.
“We would very much like to be present in Angola and Mozambique so I think over the next three to four years we’ll have some nice announcements to make. Africa really is a key focus,” he adds.
Another “big market” for Kaddouri is Saudi Arabia, with the company opening its second KSA property — a 250-room Rayhaan — in Riyadh in Q1 2015. Having been present in KSA with one Makkah property for four years now, the company is ready to expand in one of the GCC’s most promising destinations, and diversify from the religious segment into the booming corporate market.
“We have about seven properties signed in KSA, which will open at various stages over the next three to four years; we’re very excited about our second property in Saudi Arabia,” says Kaddouri.
On a global scale, Kaddouri has been the driving force behind the sales and marketing function of the company, opening Rotana’s international offices in China, India and Russia. It is this “entrepreneurial spirit” he believes is the key learning he has taken from El Zyr.
“We are hoteliers and we have to make sure customers and stakeholders are happy by delivering our promises, but it’s also a business. You’ve got to make sure you’re driving revenues, maximising money-making potential, and ensuring your costs are very well managed to create good profitability.
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