AccorHotels opened 12 new hotels in the Middle East in 2017

AccorHotels has revealed that it has surpassed 100 hotels in operation across its Middle East portfolio, with the opening of 12 properties so far in 2017.

The number of hotel openings this year exceeds the number of hotels opened by the group in all of 2016, and has already established 2017 as a year of record growth, the company said in a statement.

AccorHotels’ Middle East current portfolio is spread across 11 countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Iran.

The company announced plans last year to double its room count to 50,000 by 2020, and has already reached the 30,000 room mark to date.

Olivier Granet, managing director and chief operating officer of AccorHotels Middle East and Africa, and number 2 on the Hotelier Middle East Power 50 2017 list, said: "We continue to build great momentum with the acquisition of Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel as well as our group’s addition of innovative lifestyle brand and resort offerings, as seen in the Middle East by the opening of one hotel on average every month until the end of the year and two hotels a month from 2018 onwards."

He added that AccorHotels currently has 101 hotels in operation in the region, representing over 30,000 rooms, making it the largest hotel operator in Saudi Arabia.