Emaar’s hospitality arm eyes deals in Saudi mega projects

Emaar Hospitality Group, a subsidiary of Dubai Financial Market-listed Emaar Properties, is exploring potential hotel management agreements in major projects across Saudi Arabia.

“The giga projects launched in Saudi Arabia as part of Vision 2030 will energize the tourism sector, driving both international and domestic tourism. We will explore opportunities for potential hotel management agreements across all key projects in the Kingdom,” a company spokesperson told Argaam.

The Kingdom is currently working on mega projects such as NEOM, Amaala, Red Sea, Qiddiya and AlUla.

"Saudi Arabia is one of our key markets – both in terms of welcoming visitors from the Kingdom – and as part of our strengthening our business footprint," the spokesperson noted.

The hospitality major’s premium luxury and upscale lifestyle brand - Address Hotels + Resorts and Vida Hotels and Resorts - have signed management contracts in the Kingdom.

Address Hotels + Resorts will operate Jabal Omar Address Makkah, comprising 1,490 rooms and suites, while Vida Hotels and Resorts will manage the 202-room Shari’ah compliant Vida Jeddah Gate located in Jeddah Gate, a mixed-use development community by Emaar Middle East.

In addition, Rove Hotels, a joint venture of Emaar Properties and Dubai-based developer Meraas, has signed a management contract to operate the 240-room Rove King Abdullah Economic City in the Bay La Sun waterfront district of King Abdullah Economic City.

With domestic and inbound tourism in the Kingdom reaching SAR 121.5 billion ($32 billion) in 2018, Emaar Hospitality believes the outlook for the Kingdom's hospitality sector remains robust, with the Saudi Vision 2030 focused on promoting the hospitality and leisure sector.

“We see strong opportunities for hospitality operators – across all segments – from luxury to midscale. We maintain strong average daily rates and RevPAR, which are consistently higher than the industry average across in all their operational hotels,” the spokesperson said.

Write to Parag Deulgaonkar at parag.d@argaamplus.com