JEDDAH, 18 July 2007 — Scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2009, Rezidor Hotel Group will bring its mid-market brand Park Inn to the Holy City of Makkah. The hotel will be located in the Al-Zahir area, approximately three kilometers from the Haram Mosque and will be deemed as The Al-Diyafa Park Inn Makkah. The 221-room hotel will add to the already 20,000-room Rezidor portfolio scheduled to open in the next two years. The Al-Diyafa Park Inn is planned to comprise of a restaurant, lobby, lounge, business center, seven meeting rooms, two courtyards, a gym and a 103-space parking lot.
“Last year over two million Haj pilgrims visited Makkah during the peak period,” said Jean-Marc Bustano, vice president of Rezidor Hotel Group. Religious tourism will be our main focus but we are also targeting the growing corporate sector,” he added. “We have acquired a good understanding of the Saudi Arabian market and we see demand for efficient, value-for-money accommodation for frequent travelers in the mid market segment,” said Bustano.
The earliest launch of the Group’s Park Inn brand is set to open for occupancy in the Eastern province city of Alkhobar, only an hour’s drive from Bahrain with a second property scheduled to open in Olaya, Riyadh comprising of 252 guestrooms and extensive meeting facilities. The two hotels are to be built in prime locations in the cities close to shopping malls and business districts.
Esther Van Bemmelen, regional marketing manager, Middle East region told Arab News. “We see Saudi Arabia as a country with a great potential for growth and want to make our well-known international brands available to the Middle East with Saudi Arabia as no exception,” she said.
Van Bemmelen added that the Rezidor Group had just completed re-branding a hotel in Sharm Al-Sheikh, Egypt and has recently finished plans to open a Radisson brand hotel in Muscat Oman by the end of next year.
Belgium-based Rezidor Hotel Group is one of the fastest growing hotel companies in the world and operates the brands of Radisson, SAS Hotels & Resorts, Regent International Hotels, Park Inn and Country Inns & Suites. The group has over 288 hotels in 47 counties spread across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Rezidor recently signed a worldwide license agreement with Italian fashion house Missoni in order to develop and operate a lifestyle hotel brand to be launched under the name of Hotel Missoni by 2010.