DUBAI, 22 April 2008 — Kingdom Hotel Investments said yesterday it had sold Monte Carlo Grand Hotel in Monaco for SR150 million ($40 million) and expected revenue from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates to drive 2008 revenues.
Kingdom Hotel, owned by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, did not say in a statement who bought the hotel it had purchased in 2005 with Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and Bank of Scotland Corporate.
“The sale of this hotel is in line with Kingdom Hotel’s strategy to continue to realize value from hotel assets,” PJ Shoucair, Kingdom Hotel’s executive director for international investments, said in the statement.
Kingdom Hotel said last year it planned to boost revenues by selling real estate, with projected revenues from ancillary property of $225 million and $280 million expected over the next five years.
The firm expects revenues per available (RevPar) room to rise 15 percent in 2008, driven mainly by its properties in Egypt and the UAE, Kingdom Hotel Chief Executive Sarmad Zok said yesterday. “We expect our system portfolio to deliver 15 percent RevPar growth in 2008 and we’re on track to delivering that,” Zok said on the sidelines of a conference in Dubai.