Hong Kong-based Swiss Belhotel International has announced plans to open 20 new hotels in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region in the year 2015.
The company will initially expand in the UAE and primarily concentrate on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
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It started in Dubai, then set off towards Saudi Arabia and Riyadh in particular. Later moving onto Kuwait and Manama and Doha.
As part of its key projects in Saudi Arabia, Swiss Belhotel will operate and manage the 126-room, four-star Swiss Belhotel Riyadh hotel and the Swiss Belboutiqe in Riyadh in 2015.
The group has already added Swiss Belhotel Saif in Bahrain and Swiss Belresort Ghantout in Dubai, in addition to Swiss Belhotel Plaza in Kuwait and Swiss Belhotel Doha in Qatar.
Swiss Belhotel proposes to open Swiss Belhotel Alghabra in Muscat and Swiss Belhotel Erbil in Iraq’s Kurdistan region in 2015.
The hotel chain has further plans to expand in other countries that include Egypt and Turkey.
Swiss Belhotel International group chairman and president Gavin Faull said that the expansion will help the company to take advantage of a steady growth in the tourism sector in the region.
At present, the group owns nearly 120 hotels and resorts worldwide including China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Iraq.
