FRHI Hotels & Resorts has turned its attention to the Middle East, with an aggressive plan to double its portfolio. Hotelier speaks to senior VP development Francois Baudin, and VP sales and marketing Frédéric Savoye, to find out how the group hopes to achieve this
In recent years, FRHI Hotels & Resorts has set its sights on growing its presence in the Middle East and North Africa, and a spate of recent signings have demonstrated the company’s commitment to the region.
It signed agreements with Citystars Properties for two new Egypt projects — a Fairmont hotel in Soma Bay, south of Hurghada, and a Swissôtel property in Katameyah, Cairo, which are both scheduled to open by 2020. These will add to the three-hotel complex signed with Citystars in 2014, which will include the operator’s three brands; Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel.
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During the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC), the group also announced a partnership with Sisban Holdings for the 350-key Fairmont Jeddah Hotel & Resort, to open in 2018.
In addition to these properties, FRHI also has hotels under development in Riyadh, Fujairah, Amman, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, among other destinations.
To further demonstrate the importance of the Middle East/Africa, FRHI has just moved its regional headquarters to Dubai. Most recently, Frédéric Savoye joined the team as vice president, sales & marketing for the Middle East, Africa and India, and is now responsible for the overall sales and marketing operations for all 19 operational hotels in the region.
Commenting on his plan to increase brand awareness in the region, Savoye says: “Taking into consideration the importance of brand equity, I believe this is the right time to really leverage our brand recognition to the benefit of the future projects that will open — for example in the next five years we will double our portfolio. So it’s important that our brands are recognised in this part of the world.”
Brand equity and recognition are equally important issues for FRHI Hotels and Resorts senior vice president development, Europe, Middle East and Africa Francois Baudin, especially with the group eyeing more properties in the GCC.
Baudin reveals FRHI is actively seeking more opportunities in Abu Dhabi, with perhaps a Raffles hotel on the cards, while secondary markets like Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah also offer attractive opportunities in the UAE.
Similarly, Saudi Arabia continues to remain an important market for FRHI. “We are looking at more projects in Jeddah to complement what we have already signed. Jeddah has different pockets of development and there is a lot going on in the north of Jeddah, so we are interested in going there as well,” Baudin commented.
“We are also in discussions with some partners for doing a Swissôtel in Riyadh and also a Raffles. We have a Fairmont under construction, which will open by the end of the year. What is tricky in Riyadh is there is a lot of supply coming and we want to make sure we are in the correct spot to capture the demand, so we want to position ourselves as different and have unique selling points.”
With a considerably hefty pipeline for the group’s relative size, Savoye says his responsibility is ensuring investors receive returns in terms of guest numbers and profitability so that they continue investing in FRHI properties in the region.
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