Each week, Hotel News Now features a news roundup from a different global region. Today’s compilation focuses on Middle East/Africa.
MEA performance results for May
The Middle East/Africa region reported mixed year-over-year results in the three major performance metrics during May 2015 when reported in U.S. dollars, according to data compiled by STR Global, sister company of Hotel News Now.
The region reported a 3% increase in occupancy to 65.1%, a 5.7% drop in average daily rate to $142.54 and a 2.9% decrease in revenue per available room to $92.81.
HVS: Middle East to see 86k more rooms
The Middle East is expected to see an additional 86,000 hotel rooms between 2014 and 2020, according to a report by HVS.
At present, there are 130,000 rooms in the region and 11,000 rooms that have not been assigned completion dates, according to “2015 Middle East hotel survey peak assessments.” Most of the new inventory in the region is in Saudi Arabia, where 38,000 hotel rooms are expected to come online, bringing the total to 59,000. The kingdom is followed by the United Arab Emirates, with about 26,000 rooms being planned and built.
Halal a bridge to Muslim travel market
Global hotel chains looking for the next best and biggest business opportunity need look no further than the Muslim market, according to a report from HNN’s Patrick Mayock.
The best way to capitalize? Embracing the halal lifestyle, which dictates those activities permissible according to Islamic sharia law.
“It is one of the fastest growing segments,” said Rafi-uddin Shikoh, CEO and managing director of DinarStandard, during the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference in May.
Economics, not FIFA, assist Qatar
Hotel companies aren’t fazed by news debating the threat of a FIFA World Cup 2022 withdrawal from Qatar, saying that their brand expansion plans are on course, according to a report from HNN correspondent Nicole Walter.
According to STR Global, 42 hotels with 10,714 rooms are in the development pipeline, of which 6,383 rooms in 26 hotels are under construction.
These numbers are but a fraction of the 45,000 new rooms required to cover the World Cup demand, according to Laurent A. Voivenel, CEO of UAE-based, HMH – Hospitality Management Holdings, an opportunity the group wants to capitalize on.
“It is too early to reveal, but we do have some lucrative projects under negotiation,” he said.
AccorHotels signs 50 in Angola
AccorHotels signed an exclusive partnership with Angolan company AAA Activos LDA to open 50 hotels comprising more than 6,200 guestrooms in Angola.
The hotels will span the range from economy to luxury, according to a news release. Twenty-seven hotels will be in the Ibis Styles brand; 22 will be Mercure hotels; and one will be a Sofitel hotel. Plans call for six hotels to open this year, 22 in 2016 and 22 in 2017, in what company executives call “strategic locations, such as in Luanda, the Angola capital, and the 17 capitals of province.”
Hilton’s development charge in Africa
Hilton Worldwide Holdings has the most rooms under development in Africa with 7,250, up 18% from the prior year, according to research from Lagos-based W Hospitality Group. Hot on its heels is Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group with 6,953 rooms (up 11%) and Marriott International with 6,412 rooms (up 22%).
Also notable is newer entrant Mangalis Hotel Group, which has posted exponential growth via an asset-heavy approach to development. The company, launched in 2013, has 2,329 rooms under development in 17 hotels, earning it spot No. 5 on the list.
Deals and development
- Hilton Worldwide signed a management agreement with the Swaziland Public Service Pensions Fund to open a Hilton Garden Inn hotel in Mbabane, Swaziland, in Africa.
- Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has signed its fourth property in Jeddah, the Mövenpick Hotel Heraa Jeddah. When it opens in 2019, the 300-key hotel will be Mövenpick’s 14th property in Saudi Arabia.
- Flora Hospitality this month opened the 186-room Flora Al Barsha Hotel, the newest addition to its growing portfolio of luxury hotels in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
- Marriott International has opened the 426-room Makkah Marriott Hotel, the company’s first flagship brand in the holy city.
- Carlson Rezidor announced the Radisson Blu M’Bamou Palace Hotel in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo. The 178-room upper-upscale property will be the first globally branded hotel in Brazzaville and will open in September 2015.
- Rotana Hotels & Resorts will open its 13th property in Abu Dhabi. The 259-room hotel is located in the Capital Centre development, which features a commercial zone, a marina and several restaurants.
- Rotana also is developing in Qatar, with plans to open its second 5-star hotel and its first Centro-branded hotel in Doha in August.
Compiled by Alicia Hoisington.