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April 27 - KMC- Bahrain announced on Monday that it has entered into a contract with Ishraq Gulf Real Estate, the company responsible for developing the Holiday Inn Express hotels in several GCC countries, to start construction of the same in Bahrain which will consist of 22 floors and 279 guest rooms at estimated cost of $22 million. The Holiday Inn Express Manama is the brand's first venture in Bahrain and…
April 26- ABB, a power and automation technology group, is implementing the Room Master solution in the Movenpick Hotel, Riyadh. The hotel will be completed in 2011 and is going to be first one in Riyadh to have the ABB system. The device is known as Room Master will allow guests to control all applications inside their hotel room, including lighting, heating, ventilating, and air conditioning, as well as room…
April 26 - The Emirates Palace hotel, Abu Dubai, will be showcasing its high-end products and services at the 17th Arabian Travel Market (ATM) scheduled to be held from May 4-7 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. The event will see the participation of industry professionals and travel agents, and will serve as a useful platform for travel-business networking. According to a statement…
April 23- A number of hotel chains in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) are considering expanding and renovating their properties along with developing new projects. According to sources in the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), several hotels are eager to renovate and expand their properties. "This is due to increasing demand from year-round Umrah visitors, as well as from both business and leisure…
April 22- Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Investments announced they have invested $42 million to enter into a joint venture with the Dead Sea Touristic and Real Estate Company in Jordan. The joint venture company will own a convention center in the Dead Sea Valley of Jordan and soon begin building a hotel to be managed by a leading hotel corporation. Aabar, which is based in Abu Dhabi and listed on the Abu Dhabi stock…
April 22- The hospitality sector in Saudi Arabia is set to grow as major hotel chains begin moving forward with plans to renovate, expand, and develop new properties. The major cities in Saudi Arabia - Riyadh, Jeddah, and Damman, already have scores of hotels ranging from three stars to five stars. Major hotel chains are showing a renewed enthusiasm to renovate new properties and expand existing properties,…
April 22- French hospitality group Accor reported better than expected first quarter sales of €1.66 billion (Dh8.19bn) because business conditions at its midscale and upscale brands improved. Accor, the fourth largest hotel group in the world, said the trend in April was “rather positive.” Occupancy rates at Accor’s midscale and upscale hotels increased and stabilized at its budget hotels in Europe. The…
April 22- Dubai-based Pearl Investment Group announced on Tuesday that it is looking to invest in 10 more hotels in the Gulf region as well as India -- an estimated investment of Dh500 million -- over the next five years. The group already operates the Flora Hotel chain in Dubai and also plans to set up hotels in Makkah and Madinah. Talking about the group’s investment plans, V. A. Hassan, Vice Chairman of…
April 22- Hyatt Hotels & Resorts announced on Monday that the Park Hyatt Jeddah-Marina Club and Spa has been opened to the public. Located along the Jeddah Corniche, the five-star hotel overlooks the Red Sea and King Fahd Fountain, the tallest in the world. The hotel is located in the heart of the city, the Al-Hamra district at the Equestrian Club, Jeddah. The Park Hyatt, Jeddah, has been designed by French…
Dubai’s beach hotels are doing booming business, an encouraging sign that suggest that the hospitality industry in the region may be on the road to recovery, said analysts in a report published by the firm Jones Lang LaSalle. hotels across the UAE suffered great losses in 2009 owing to declines in occupancy given the global financial crisis. The hotels and tourism industry accounted for 19 per cent of Dubai’s…
The Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC), Abu Dhabi, has announced that all of its 55 projects, at an estimated cost of Dh120 billion, will be completed on time. The company said that already, several projects have been delivered on time. "So far, we are in a good position and I don't think we will need to sell bonds this year," Ali Al Hamadi, Special Projects Director, TDIC, said on the…
April 21- Landmark Group, UAE, has announced that it will invest in the tourism and hospitality industry by launching Citymax Hotels for the mid-market tourists. To this end, the group will open three hotels in UAE by the end of the year -- the first one in Al Barsha will open on May 3 2010, while those in Bur Dubai and Sharjah will also be opened soon. "The success of the Landmark Group is mainly hinged on…
Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts is looking to set up a Middle East hospitality fund worth about $300 million (Dh1.1 billion), said Ho Kwon Ping, Executive Chairman, Banyan Tree Holdings. Currently, the company exists in the Middle East thanks to the presence of two of its brands -- Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts and Angsana. "If we were to invest in the Middle East, it would be by the way of a development fund. This…
April 19- The opening of the world’s ‘highest hotel’, the Armani Hotel Dubai, in the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, will be postponed because of fallout from the volcanic eruption in Iceland last week. The hotel was scheduled to open on April 21st, but this has now been postponed to April 27th because the man the hotel is name after, Giorgio Armani, can’t make the opening date due to disruption in…
April 19-Hotel across the UAE are witnessing an increase in occupancy as a result of stranded passengers after the suspension of flights to European countries. The flights have been grounded owing to the Iceland volcano ash that has caused many airlines to cancel their services to European countries. In this regard, the hotels that are closest to the Dubai Airport have benefitted the most. The Renaissance Dubai…
April 16- Reed Travel Exhibitions, organisers of the high-profile Arabian Travel Market, a travel and tourism event slated to kick off in May in Dubai, UAE, has said that this year’s event has been designed to meet the increasing demands of the sector. In a statement released on Thursday, the company said that this year’s programme will include up to 25 free-to-attend sessions and will, for the first time,…
Singapore-based Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, part of Banyan Tree Holdings, hopes for five to seven per cent of its total revenue to be generated from the Middle East in the next two years, said Ariel Vera, Group Managing Director of Banyan Tree Holdings. The company also expects to double its portfolio to 12 hotels in the coming years. "Once we open the projects, which we currently have in the pipeline…
April 16- Armani Hotel, Dubai, the world’s first hotel developed by Armani Hotels & Resorts, will open in Burj Khalifa on April 21, making it the first hotel to be launched under the collaboration between Emaar Properties PJSC and Giorgio Armani. The hotel has been designed by the acclaimed fashion designer Armani. “My ambition for Armani Hotel Dubai – the first of a collection of Armani hotels, resorts…
