RIYADH: With Saudi Arabia’s travel and tourism sector buzzing with activities offering immense investment opportunities, a top official of the Radisson Hotel Group has revealed that the company is planning to expand its presence in the Kingdom with a total of 100 properties in the next five years.
Talking to Arab News on the sidelines of the Future Hospitality Summit in Riyadh on Monday, Elie Younes, executive vice president, and global chief development officer at Radisson Hotel Group, said the planned expansion will help create more job opportunities in Saudi Arabia.
“Currently we have around 50 hotels almost actually in Saudi Arabia; 25 hotels open and 25 hotels under construction as we speak. Our plan for the next five years is to double that. And that means to have almost 100 hotels across Saudi Arabia,” Younes said.
The top executive said if every hotel has 200 rooms, each property “will employ 150 people, more or less. And if you are opening another 50 hotels, you can imagine the multiplying effect this will have on the economy and on job creation.”
Younes said the hotel group wishes to become part of the Kingdom’s hospitality sector’s expansion story.
“We have big plans in Saudi (Arabia), and the reason being Saudi (Arabia) has big plans for itself. Saudi (Arabia) is going through a transformation, for its economy, for its people, and for the whole country. And given the transformation that Saudi Arabia will go through, we will transform ourselves with and in Saudi (Arabia),” he said.
The official said the group would not only focus on key cities in Saudi Arabia to open its hotels but will also concentrate on the upcoming “secondary and economic cities” in the Kingdom.
Talking about the group’s global plans, Younes said it currently has 1,500 hotels globally, and the plan is to expand the number of properties to 3,000 within the next five to seven years.
“If you look at the region (Middle East), we currently have around 75 (hotels). And the plan is to double that in the next five years to become hopefully 150 hotels. So, today, we have about 1,500 hotels globally, and the idea is to double that in the next five years and make it around 3,000 hotels,” said Younes.
Lauding the Saudi government’s regulatory reforms in the private sector, Younes said these reforms should evolve daily.
“This is an evolving evolution. Let us put it that way, where both the private and public sectors continue putting efforts in order to achieve the goals. So, policy and investment in infrastructure, and providing subsidies to investors and enabling operations are all integral elements for the future of Saudi Arabia,” added Younes.
According to the official, Radisson Hotel Group is not planning to open an additional 50 exclusively luxury hotels in Saudi Arabia over the next five years. Instead, the company will explore investment opportunities in 50 midscale lifestyle hotels in the Kingdom.
“Will we do 50 luxury hotels in Saudi Arabia over the next five years? I don’t think we will do that. But will there be investment opportunities for midscale lifestyle (hotels) across the Kingdom in the next five years for 50 hotels? I certainly would bet on that,” he said.
Radisson Hotel Group plans 100 hotels in Saudi Arabia, says top official
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Radisson Hotel Group plans 100 hotels in Saudi Arabia, says top official
Free trade negotiations between GCC, India mark new phase of partnership, says sec-gen
RIYADH: The Gulf Cooperation Council’s secretary-general affirmed that the negotiations for a free trade agreement between the GCC and India, and the signing of the joint statement, represents a new phase of strategic partnership.
Jasem Mohamed Al-Budaiwi said that this contributes to enhancing close cooperation and strengthening economic and trade ties, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
This came during the signing ceremony of the joint statement on launching the free trade agreement negotiations between the Al-Budaiwi and India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, which took place in New Delhi, on Tuesday.
During the signing ceremony, Al-Budaiwi said that the Terms of Reference, signed on Feb. 5, provide a comprehensive and clear framework for these negotiations. The two nations agreed to discuss enhancing cooperation in vital strategic areas, including trade in goods, customs procedures, and services.
Additionally, the framework covers Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures, intellectual property rights, cooperation on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, along with other topics of mutual interest. This reflects the comprehensive nature of the agreement and its ability to keep pace with the future economy.
Al-Budaiwi expressed hope that these negotiations would lead to a comprehensive and ambitious free trade agreement that works to remove customs and non-customs barriers, enhance the flow of quality investments in both directions, and achieve further liberalization in trade and investment cooperation between the GCC and India for mutual benefit.
This would provide a stimulating economic environment and an investment climate that opens broad horizons for the business sector, supports supply chains, and accelerates the pace of economic growth in line with the ambitious developmental visions of the GCC states.
The top official affirmed the full readiness of the General Secretariat to host the first round of negotiations at its headquarters in Riyadh during the second half of this year.
The two sides held a meeting during which they reviewed the existing cooperation relations between the GCC and India and discussed ways to develop and elevate them to broader horizons, serving mutual interests and enhancing opportunities for strategic partnership between the two sides, particularly in the economic, investment, and trade fields.
They praised the role undertaken by the negotiating teams from both sides, appreciating the efforts contributing to reaching a comprehensive agreement that enhances economic integration and supports the smooth flow of trade between the two nations.
