v18

NEWS
Number of hotel rooms in
forecast to double by 2018
The ‘Jeddah Hotel Market
Overview’ report by JLL prepared
ahead of The Hotel Show Saudi
Arabia 2016 held in Jeddah, 17 – 19
May 2016, revealed that the current
supply of 8,600 rooms (Q1 2016) in
the city would double – with another
8,600 rooms forecast to be added to
the market by 2018.
With a total stock of 17,200 hotel
rooms estimated by 2018, major
projects in the Jeddah pipeline include:
The Ritz Carlton, Jeddah; Radisson
Blu Al Salamah; Movenpick City
Star; Elaf Galleria and Assila Hotel &
Residence by Rocco Forte.
Christian Renz, Vice President for
Sales and Marketing for Rocco Forte
Hotels commented: "With the growth
figures of Jeddah doubling, Jeddah
was a clear choice for Rocco Forte
Hotel's development in the Middle
East. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
is also one of our strongest outbound
markets worldwide for our European
hotels, so we felt it important to
have a presence in the region. The
Alissa family, who are one of the
most respected families in the region,
approached Sir Rocco Forte to partner
as they admired his hotel management
style in the European properties
where they had stayed. Both family
companies, together we have built the
Assila Hotel on the prestigious Tahlia
Street, the first five star to open in
almost ten years in the city."
“Hotel occupancy rates in Jeddah are
historically high,” added Christine
Davidson, Group Event Director of
the dmg events hospitality portfolio.
“Saudi Arabia is an important market
for developing business and leisure
tourism as well as the dominant
The Assila
Hotel by Rocco
Forte opened
recently in
Jeddah.
religious tourism sector. Jeddah is a
gateway for pilgrims travelling to the
holy cities of Makkah and Madinah,
while its coastal location makes it
popular with domestic tourists.
Business tourism is fast developing,
and infrastructure developments in the
pipeline including expansion works on
Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International
Airport will increase accessibility.”
AccorHotels Middle East own a
significant margin of Jeddah’s hotel
portfolio with nearly 600 operational
rooms in the market at present, set
to increase to over 3,000 hotel rooms
in the coming years. Olivier Granet,
Managing Director and Chief
Operating Officer of AccorHotels
Middle East commented: “We are
on track to have 50 operational hotels
in the Kingdom with over 13,500
rooms. By 2020 we are quintupling
our network in Jeddah with a fivefold
increase from three existing hotels to
15.”
Granet added: “In order to attract
both business and leisure clientele,
AccorHotels has been focusing on the
development of multi-brand projects;
especially clusters that comprise
midscale and economy hotels and
serviced apartments. A particularly
large-scale project in Jeddah will
introduce a Novotel, ibis and
Adagio to Al Andalus Road, which I
personally believe will become a local
landmark as it combines office, retail
and hospitality components in one of
the city’s most vibrant areas.”
At The Hotel Show Saudi Arabia,
global consulting firm Deloitte offered
further insights into the Jeddah market
discussing “Market performance,
trends and projects in Jeddah and
Makkah” as part of the Vision
Conference program for 2016 and
defined the potential of the city has.
The Hotel Show Saudi Arabia is the
only event where hospitality industry
professionals can source everything
needed to develop, build and maintain
a hotel or restaurant in the Kingdom.
www.thehotelshowsaudiarabia.com
42 August/2016