Rotana’s Selim El Zyr, ADNH’s Saif Al Hajeri and Action Hotels’ HE Sheikh Mubarak Abdullah Al Mubarak Al Sabah assess regional investment opportunities ahead of the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the one GCC country that holds definite appeal and untapped potential for hotel investors, according to regional industry experts.
When asked to identify the ‘hottest’ location for hotel investment in the Middle East, Rotana president and CEO Selim El Zyr, Abu Dhabi National Hotels (ADNH) chairman Saif Mohamed Al Hajeri and Action Hotels chairman HE Sheikh Mubarak Abdullah Al Mubarak Al Sabah all noted KSA.
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Al Hajeri said: “Despite the saturation in the hospitality market, specifically in the GCC states the one country that remains attractive is the Saudi market, and in particular the Holy places of Mecca and Medina. In these two cities opportunities for investment remain attractive in the short, medium and long term — especially in the three- and four-star segment as well as serviced apartment categories.
“Given the investment in infrastructure in the Saudi kingdom in terms of airports and future railway lines linking Mecca and Medina, I would forecast that the demand for hotel accommodation will remain very strong in years to come,” he added.
El Zyr said that there was a “huge untapped potential for leisure tourism in Saudi Arabia”.
“Besides the millions who come on Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages, to attract more leisure tourists, the Saudi government is undertaking significant reform and investment in large projects, such as publicly financed training programmes and public-private development partnerships to boost tourism,” said El Zyr.
And to attract more tourists, diversification of hotels would be necessary, he added.
“Mid-range and budget accommodation offers attractive options as Saudi Arabia looks to target mass tourism. The emergence of mid-range and low-cost hotels has become one of the hottest trends within travel accommodation, introducing an essential diversity into the hotel category,” said El Zyr.
HE Mubarak Al Sabah said that the changing marketplace from five-star dominated demand to a wider market created scope for mid-range hotels.
“There are new hubs that have great potential and we have carefully identified those locations where we believe mid-market hotels will be successful. This potential is evident in the Saudi market, for example,” he asserted.
El Zyr also identified Bahrain and Abu Dhabi as two other “hot spots” for investment.
“Moving to Bahrain, the country provides a free, open and transparent environment for businesses and has a globally competitive, value-creation story which focuses on sustainability, skills and good governance,” commented El Zyr.
“Bahrain is the most mature, well-established business hub with the largest financial institutions in the Gulf. With a track record of nearly 40 years, Bahrain is still the financial services leader in the entire region. But from an operator point of view and as a management company, Rotana sees a lot of opportunities in Bahrain.
“We will primarily be focusing on the corporate and MICE markets, however, the leisure market will not be neglected,” he added.
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi — where Rotana opened its flagship hotel Beach Rotana in 1993 — was “a strong contender for the “sun and sand” tourism sector”, said El Zyr.
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