LONDON: The New York-listed Hyatt said on Sunday it plans to double the number of hotels it operates in Saudi Arabia, with five new properties set to open by 2023.
Hyatt Hotels said the new properties would add approximately 1,300 rooms, and include the first Grand Hyatt branded hotel in Saudi Arabia, which is set to open late this year in Alkhobar.
Other planned openings include the Jabal Omar Hyatt Centric Makkah Hotel and Residences, Hyatt Regency Jeddah Serafi Mall, and a dual-branded Hyatt Place and Hyatt House Riyadh.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the fastest growing religious tourism markets in the world and one of Hyatt’s primary focus areas within the Middle East,” said Ludwig Bouldoukian, regional vice president of development at Hyatt.
“Saudi Arabia continues to make significant strides in boosting tourism and infrastructure in a bid to diversify the economy. The ambitious expansion of Hyatt brands cement Hyatt’s brand presence, both amongst Gulf residents and the increasing number of international travelers visiting Saudi Arabia.”
Existing Hyatt hotels in Saudi Arabia include the Park Hyatt Jeddah and Hyatt Regency Riyadh Olaya.
Hyatt plans to double number of hotels in Saudi Arabia
Hyatt plans to double number of hotels in Saudi Arabia
- New York-listed group says five new properties to open by 2023
- Openings include first Grand Hyatt branded hotel in Kingdom
Saudi minister at Davos urges collaboration on minerals
- The reason of the tension of geopolitics is actually the criticality of the minerals
LONDON: Countries need to collaborate on mining and resources to help avoid geopolitical tensions, Saudi Arabia’s minister of industry and mineral resources told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday.
“The reason of the tension of geopolitics is actually the criticality of the minerals, the concentration in different areas of the world,” Bandar Alkhorayef told a panel discussion on the geopolitics of materials.
“The rational thing to do is to collaborate, and that’s what we are doing,” he added. “We are creating a platform of collaboration in Saudi Arabia.”
The Kingdom last week hosted the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh. Alkhorayef said the platform was launched by the government in 2022 as a contribution to the global community. “It’s very important to have a global movement, and that’s why we launched the Future Minerals Forum,” he said. “It is the most important platform of global mining leaders.”
The Kingdom has made mining one of the key pillars of its economy, rapidly expanding the sector under the Vision 2030 reform program with an eye on diversification. Saudi Arabia has an estimated $2.5 trillion in mineral wealth and the ramping up of extraction comes at a time of intense global competition for resources to drive technological development in areas like AI and renewables.
“We realized that unlocking the value that we have in our natural resources, of the different minerals that we have, will definitely help our economy to grow to diversify,” Alkhorayef said. The Kingdom has worked to reduce the timelines required to set up mines while also protecting local communities, he added. Obtaining mining permits in Saudi Arabia has been reduced to just 30 to 90 days compared to the many years required in other countries, Alkhorayef said.
“We learned very, very early that permitting is a bottleneck in the system,” he added. “We all know, and we have to be very, very frank about this, that mining doesn’t have a good reputation globally.
“We are trying to change this and cutting down the licensing process doesn’t only solve it. You need also to show the communities the impact of the mining on their lives.”
Saudi Arabia’s new mining investment laws have placed great emphasis on the development of society and local communities, along with protecting the environment and incorporating new technologies, Alkhorayef said. “We want to build the future mines; we don’t want to build old mines.”
