Majid Al Futtaim announced it would open six new hotels in the UAE from 2019 to 2021.
The announcement was made at a press conference, which took place this morning at the Pullman Deira City Centre, one of the properties the group owns along with nine others in the UAE alone.
Hotelier Middle East was present at the press conference and asked whether the group had settled on an operator. Majid Al Futtaim – properties CEO Robert Welanetz said: “All the hotels will be in the UAE, but we have not yet selected an operator for them.”
He said that Majid Al Futtaim has had a long and successful history with several world class operators, a trend which would be carried forward.
“The properties would be ready for operation from 2019 to 2021,” he added. The new hotels would be built near or adjacent to the group’s retail establishments as was previously divulged by Simon Barlow in an exclusive interview with Hotelier.
Majid Al Futtaim also unveiled a strategic development plan that will see the company increase its total investment in the United Arab Emirates by AED 30 billion by 2026, taking its total investment in the country to AED 48 billion.
The investments, which reaffirm the company’s long-standing commitment to its home market, include both new projects and the expansion of existing assets.
The plan will create more than 170,000 direct and indirect job opportunities.
A couple of the development sites for the new hotels have been earmarked as the Mall of the Emirates, City Centre Mirdif, and its planned mixed-use community in Dubai.
This will bring the company’s total number of keys operated to 4,800.
The firm currently has 12 hotels in operation, 10 of which are in Dubai and two in Bahrain.
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