Further afield, in Qatar, a three-hotel complex, which includes the Renaissance Doha, Courtyard Doha, and Marriott Executive Apartments Doha, will merge and be collectively rebranded as the Marriott Marquis City Center Doha Hotel, signalling the brand’s debut in Qatar this year.
The hotel, owned by Al Rayyan Tourism and Investment Company (ARTIC), is located in Doha’s West Bay district and comprises 580 guest rooms and 1200m2 of meeting space, and is directly connected to the City Center mall.
The rebrand follows a conversation between owner and operator which identified that “a more powerful proposition” was needed for the properties.
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“It comes at a time of significant growth in Qatar,” explains Kyriakidis.
“We have 350 rooms in the pipeline under construction in Doha.”
And while a “firm believer” in concentrating on delivering the brand promise across the eight brands that are already in the market in the Middle East and Africa, Kyriakidis wouldn’t rule out another acquisition.
“Nothing is out, but we’ve got to concentrate on getting that business integrated successfully into the Marriott family,” he says, referring to the Protea hotels.
However, he does admit that there has been quite a significant amount of interest from existing owners in Protea and this is something that may make its way into the Middle East.
“They like the fact that [Protea] is a full service brand, but that it has more of a quality tier positioning rather than upscale. They like the flexibility that gives them. Our development team is in discussions with interested parties to bring Protea to the Middle East.”
“The Gulf carriers are increasing the frequency of their flights and penetration into Africa, particularly South Africa.
“If we can get the Protea name into the Middle East market it could be hugely synergistic for our customers of Africa, and the Middle East and Africa.”
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