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Prince Sultan bin Salman, president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), said work on the new tourism law is nearly complete and may be passed this year. The prince spoke to reporters about the new law after opening a new SCTA licensing office in Makkah. He said all new hotels in the kingdom will be classified based on international standards, and hotels licenses will be issued only to…
Roya International and Deloitte have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding the provision of Hotel Management Oversight (HMO) services in the Middle East. The service targets investors, hotel owners/operators and government entities and will yield enhance business values and returns. “This is an exciting time for all of us. By joining forces, the Roya and Deloitte teams will have the ability to…
Elaf Group of Companies is looking to expand its portfolio in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) by opening four new hotels by 2012, said the President of the company, Ziyad Bin Mahfouz. He pointed out that the current trends with respect to tourism within KSA have made locations within the country more attractive to Saudi nationals. “Elaf Group's strategy is to complement the growing focus on domestic tourism by…
Union Properties, one of the country’s leading developers, is in talks with two developers from the US and Qatar who have expressed interest in buying its Ritz-Carlton hotel at the Dubai Financial Centre (DIFC). A senior executive at a well known hospitality consultancy firm said the first interested buyer is a non-resident Indian settled in the US and a presence in the hospitality business. The second interested…
Walter Knight, Resident Manager of the 181 room Ramada Downtown Burj, said the hotel achieved 77 percent occupancy last month. R Hotels operates the property, which overlooks the Burj Boulevard within Burj residences. R Hotels is a member of R Holding, the property developers developing the Emirates City in Ajman. R Holding has invested about Dh 400 million in the project. Knight said “One of the key…
Nobu, the upscale Japanese restaurant chain, may open its hotel in the Middle East, as talks are underway with developers here, said Chuck Wood, Middle East Managing Director, Rockwell Group. Co-owned by Hollywood actor Robert De Niro, the first was opened in New York (designed by the Rockwell Group) while the first Nobu restaurant was opened in Dubai’s Atlantis Hotel. Meanwhile, Nobu is all set to open a…
Raffles Dubai is set to open a nightclub in its pyramid-shaped hotel building in Dubai in collaboration with Beirut’s Crystal Group, it was learnt on Tuesday. The nightclub will replace China Moon and New Asia bars on the 18th and 19th floors of the hotel, said Corinna Erken, said Raffles Dubai Director of Conferences and Events. Erken said the club is slated to open in April and is just a reflection of the…
Starwood Hotels & Resort Worldwide has announced the launching of four properties in the Middle East under its high-end brand name, St Regis. Two hotels are slated to open in Abu Dhabi, one in Doha and one in Cairo, said sources from the company. The company has also announced the opening of 50 new hotels in its Europe, Africa and Middle East (EAME) division by 2012. Meanwhile, a $275 million refurbishment…
Emaar Properties has submitted an expression of interest to Bali Tourism Corporation for a $600 million tourism project in Lombok, Indonesia. In this regard, Emaar is still waiting to hear from the Indonesian authorities. Earlier, it was reported that Emaar had decided not to help the Indonesian government with the project in question. However, sources discredited that saying that Emaar is still waiting for a…
Accor Hospitality continues with its expansion plans in the Middle East and has opened yet another hotel in the region – Ibis Al Rigga, Dubai. Located in the business district of Deira, a historic landmark in Dubai, the Ibis Al Rigga is close to the shopping area, metro station Dubai Creek, Gold Souk, Spice Souk and the Dubai Museum. Furthermore, it is also quite close to the airport. The hotel consists of…
The opening of the Giorgio Armani Hotel inside Burj Khalifa, Dubai, has been delayed, it was learnt on Monday. The hotel was scheduled to open on March 18 after the Burj Khalifa was opened in January this year and will now instead open on April 22. The reason cited for the delay is that pending work will not finish by March 18. Armani Hotel was originally scheduled to open last year but it was delayed since…
A study by the Hotel Price Barometer reveals that Dubai hotels are ranked 12th on the world’s most expensive hotels list with average nightly rates squaring off at €121 in February 2010. Moscow, said the study, tops the list with average nightly rates hitting €164. While average room rates in Dubai went up by 22 per cent, they also recorded a 43 per cent decrease in the average hotel room rates in the world…
Hilton Worldwide signed a management agreement with High for Touristic Projects for Hilton Heliopolis in Cairo on Sunday. Scheduled to open in 2014, the Hilton Heliopolis will have 485 rooms and 150 apartments along with a shopping complex and is close to the airport. The hotel will also have five restaurants, a ballroom, nine meeting rooms, a board room, fitness centre, swimming pool, two tennis courts and a…
The signing of the first Staybridge Suites Hotel property in Saudi Arabia took place on Sunday. This is a joint venture between the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and Al Hokair Group. Slated to open in February 2011, Staybridge Suites will be located in Riyadh’s Olaya district that is close to various landmarks, shopping centres and restaurants. Some of the features of the Riyadh Olaya hotel include 106…
Relations are tense between major Umrah and hotel groups in Mecca and Madina, and the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) because the former refuse to comply with the new regulations issued by the SCTA. The trouble started when SCTA decided to supervise two hotels that were previously being looked after the Ministry of Haj and then the decision to implement new conditions. Under the revised…
Isthimar World Capital, a Dubai-based investment firm’s private-equity unit, has defaulted on a $300 million mortgage payment for a hotel site in New York. The property has been handed over to Danske Bank and is generating interest from buyers.
The Palace The Old Town in Dubai and Miramar Resort, Fujairah, are the first two hotels in the UAE to sign up for . An internationally recognised accreditation, GGC has been brought to the UAE via an agreement signed by Farnek Avireal – a joint venture between a UAE and Swiss business group – under which the latter has an exclusive license to use and promote GCC across 20 countries in the Middle East. The…
The latest annual Hotels.com Hotel Price Index, released yesterday, showed that the average price of hotel rooms around the world dropped 14 percent in 2009. The price of hotel rooms dropped on every continent. Although prices fell consistently throughout 2009, near the end of the year the decline began to level off. During the fourth quarter of the year, the price of a hotel room globally fell 7 percent, down…
