May 10 – European luxury hotel operator Rocco Forte Collection is hoping to have about six to eight properties in its Middle East portfolio in the next five years, said, Ael Soukah, Rocco Forte Collection’s Director of Outbound Sales, Middle East. In this regard, the first property is slated to open in Abu Dhabi in October this year. “In the next two years, Rocco Forte Collection will have three hotels up and running in the Middle East, with one more in the pipeline and an additional two hotel projects under discussion,” he added. “The plan is to grow our Middle East portfolio. Within the next five years, we would be looking at a portfolio of about six to eight hotels in the region.”
Meanwhile, the hotel company was in discussions in the past for a property on The World development in Dubai, which did not materialise. When asked about the unsuccessful deal, Soukah said: “Without getting into too much detail, the deal fell through because we were looking for a management contract and the deal was not fitting well within our plans.”
