Rotana adds hotels across the region

Abu Dhabi’s Rotana is pushing ahead with its expansion in the Arabian Gulf even as it looks to offset challenges at home.

The hotel group plans to add five properties in Saudi Arabia this year, three in Qatar and one in Kuwait by the end of 2018, said Guy Hutchinson, the company's chief operating officer.

It is already present in the Gulf with a total of eight properties in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.

Rotana also expects to open four properties in the capital and five in Dubai over the next five yeas, accounting for 3,598 more rooms.

These will take the company’s property count to 44 in the UAE. The supply glut of hotel rooms in Abu Dhabi and Dubai coupled with the effect of currency fluctuations are driving down average room rates and taking a toll on occupancy.

“The shift in the UAE’s feeder market dynamics due to challenging global economic conditions has brought [Arabian Gulf] travellers into sharper focus than ever before,” Mr Hutchinson said.

“Although the market environment continues to remain challenging, we see many positive trends and developments that could yet propel hospitality growth in the region.”

He said these include increased infrastructure spending by regional governments, continuing rise in intra-regional travel percentage and the rapid growth of Mice (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) tourism.

About 37 per cent of Rotana’s room nights and 40 per cent of the room revenue are generated from the Gulf region.

There is also a renewed investor confidence in the UAE’s hospitality sector. “Investors usually have a longer-term outlook and the buying opportunity is in the next couple of years,” according to Simon Allison, the chairman of Hoftel, an organisation of hotel property investors.

“It is now cheaper to buy and cheaper to build.”

Hoftel, which has 75 members worldwide, including Abu Dhabi National Hotels and Aldar, organised the two-day Gulf and Indian Ocean Hotel Investors’ Summit in Dubai which started on Monday.

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