The company behind a home-grown Omani hotel brand is aiming to expand it to the GCC within the next five years, with broader international ambitions beyond that.
Atana was established by Omran, the sultanate's development, investment and hospitality asset management company, through its National Omani Hotel Company subsidiary earlier this year.
The first hotel in its portfolio was Golden Tulip Resort Khasab, which it rebranded as Atana Khasab, and it last month soft-opened Atana Musandam Resort, which has 105 rooms and suites overlooking the Musandam Sea.
Speaking to Hotelier Middle East, National Omani Hosptality Company managing director Pascal Eppink detailed the business’ ambitious plans for the Atana brand.
“We have the target by 2018/19 to open properties in the GCC,” he said. “We want to grow from Oman to GCC and other areas. We want to export Arabian hospitality to Europe and the Far East. But first the plan is to get things right at home, and that will take a couple of years.
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“Then we can go to a bigger, safer market; there could be opportunities is Qatar, UAE or Saudi Arabia. Once we have the credibility, we can attract investors in other areas as well.
“We will make some small adaptions and add some general Arabic elements but it will still have Omani roots.”
Within its home country, National Omani Hosptality Company will take over three more properties next month. They include City Hotel Duqm and a turtle resort with a museum in Ras Al Jinz, which will both be operated under independent brands.
The third property, a resort on Masirah Island, will be expanded and extensively renovated before being brought under the Atana brand.
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