Arab News, Thursday, May 18, 2023 | Shawwal 28, 1444
Saudi Tourism Development Fund partners with Minor Hotels to bring top brands
Saudi Arabia:
Travelers will have access to more hospitality options in Saudi Arabia after the
Kingdom’s Tourism Development Fund struck a deal with Minor Hotels Group to
jointly develop mountain destinations, health resorts, and urban hotels in the
country.
The memorandum of understanding, which was signed
during the International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin, aims to establish an
exclusive prolonged strategic relationship between the two organizations.
The new developments will start in the second half
of 2023, and the signing of the deal was hailed by Qusai Al-Fakhri, CEO of the
Tourism Development Fund.
“This MoU and future partnership with Minor Hotels
is a great step forward towards making Saudi Arabia an attractive global tourism
destination,” he said.
Minor Hotels’ modern Avani Hotels & Resorts will
make its debut in the Kingdom as part of the strategic agreement, with multiple
locations to be created.
Thai brand Anantara will also establish a
presence, and there will also be developments from luxury firm Tivoli, and Oaks,
a modern accommodation.
Bangkok-based Minor Hotels, which owns, manages
and operates a portfolio of over 530 hotels, resorts and branded residences
across six continents, sees this partnership as an opportunity to expand its
offering in the Kingdom.
“The signing of this memorandum of understanding
with Saudi’s Tourism Development Fund represents a significant step for Minor
Hotels, enabling the group to offer a wide variety of products ranging from
experiential luxury to serviced apartments, each creating a personalized product
for a consumer niche,” said Dillip Rajakarier, Group CEO of Minor International
and CEO of Minor Hotels.
The Tourism Development Fund drives investments
while working toward attracting direct funding into the hospitality and tourism
sector by linking private organizations with financing opportunities in the
Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia is the region's leader in hotel
building activity with over 40,000 rooms under construction as of March,
according to data released in April by the hotel industry monitoring company
STR.
The Kingdom contributes 35.1 percent of the
region’s total keys under construction, with 42,033 hotel rooms.
This comes as key performance metrics in Saudi
Arabia’s hospitality sector continue to rise, with major cities seeing a jump in
occupancy levels.