Saudi-Based Dur Hospitality Inks Deal With Marriot For Two Hotels

Saudi Arabia-based Dur Hospitality has signed a deal with Marriott International to operate two hotels being developed in Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter.

Following the deal, Marriott will operate an 80-unit hotel and a 140-unit executive apartment complex in the Kingdom.

It will also be the first time that an international hotel group will operate in an area where the headquarters of all the diplomatic missions to Saudi Arabia are based.

Both the properties are due to open by 2017 and will be managed by Marriott international on a long-term lease agreement, Saudi-listed Dur Hospitality said in a statement.

“The amount of the investment allocated for developing the 80-unit Marriott Hotel and 140-unit Marriott Executive Apartments is around SAR300 million,” said Badr bin Hmoud Al-Badr, CEO of Dur Hospitality.

He said that the investment was in line with Dur Hospitality’s aim to expand in the market through partnerships with international hotel management franchises.

Al Badr added that the new hotels were built after a feasibility study on the market revealed an increased demand for hotels in the diplomatic quarter.

Saudi Arabia is becoming an attractive market to international hotel operators due to the growing business and religious tourism in the country.

In order to tap into this growth, Dur Hospitality said that it planned to spend around SAR1.4 billion ($373 million) over the next seven years to expand its portfolio of hotels and luxury residential buildings.

Dur Hospitality has also partnered with Marriott International on projects such as the 418-unit Riyadh Marriott Hotel, the 117-unit Marriott Executive Apartments and the 216-unit Diplomatic Courtyard Marriott Hotel, which is adjacent to the diplomatic quarter.

“We see huge potential for growth in hospitality sector associated with the overall Saudi economic development, and surely benefited from the Saudi government’s efforts to drive tourism growth with the deregulation of air travel, expansion projects in the holy cities (Makkah and Madinah), as well as the infrastructure development projects,” said Alex Kyriakidis, president and managing director of Marriott International in the Middle East and Africa.

“Thanks to these projects, tourism numbers are expected to continue to grow, especially the travels and increasing demands for hotels’ rooms and hospitality services.”