“There are discussions in progress and at the moment we haven’t announced any to the market” he reveals.
There are nearly 2500 rooms confirmed to come online in Saudi Arabia over the next five years across Marriott’s Residence Inn, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott brands, with nothing yet announced for the Autograph or Edition brands.
Four properties are scheduled for Riyadh, Jeddah and Damman in the coming years.
| Advertisement |
And aside from the key cities, as part of the 5000 room target outside of the holy cities, the firm is starting to turn its attention to the smaller markets of the Kingdom, and last year launched Courtyard Jazan alongside Residence Inn Jazan.
Saying this, Marriott is just 35% of the way toward meeting its 2020 target, yet Kyriakidis says this is “a good step toward that goal”.
And while he maintains that performance of short-stay brands, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and Courtyard have been “doing fabulously”, the long-stay brands are coming to the fore, both in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Gulf region.
There is particular demand for long-stay when combined with a short-stay hotel, as is the case with Marriott Executive Apartments in Riyadh and the Marriott Riyadh which have the same owners, allowing for long-stay guests to benefit from the hotel facilities and F&B.
The model has proved successful enough that a second duo was signed last month with Dur Hospitality, for Marriott Executive Apartments Riyadh Diplomatic Quarter, and Riyadh Marriott Hotel Diplomatic Quarter, set to open in 2017.
“Not many costs go with that except housekeeping and maintenance,” Kyriakidis explains.
“So the margin in that long-stay piece is very healthy, typically north of the 60% margin.”
Diversifying the hotel product will also help the firm attract customers outside of the traditional source markets — the GCC and Europe.
“We haven’t yet tapped the Indian market, we haven’t yet tapped the Asian market and I think the theme parks and the huge shopping malls that have been planned will start pulling those markets into Dubai.
“There’s no question we need to diversify into midscale and limited service segments, and this is where we’re heavily focused as Marriott; to bring in our Courtyard by Marriott and Residence Inn by Marriott to respond to that upcoming demand.”
In the UAE, with just 1750 rooms under construction, the company is even further away from its goal than it is in Saudi Arabia, however Kyriakidis sees “lots of potential to come, particularly in the capital and certainly in Dubai”.
Article continues on next page ...
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
