RIYADH: Travelers will have access to more hospitality options in Saudi Arabia after the Kingdom’s Tourism Development Fund struck a deal with Minor Hotels Group to jointly develop mountain destinations, health resorts, and urban hotels in the country.
The memorandum of understanding, which was signed during the International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin, aims to establish an exclusive prolonged strategic relationship between the two organizations.
The new developments will start in the second half of 2023, and the signing of the deal was hailed by Qusai Al-Fakhri, CEO of the Tourism Development Fund.
“This MoU and future partnership with Minor Hotels is a great step forward towards making Saudi Arabia an attractive global tourism destination,” he said.
Minor Hotels’ modern Avani Hotels & Resorts will make its debut in the Kingdom as part of the strategic agreement, with multiple locations to be created.
Thai brand Anantara will also establish a presence, and there will also be developments from luxury firm Tivoli, and Oaks, a modern accommodation.
Bangkok-based Minor Hotels, which owns, manages and operates a portfolio of over 530 hotels, resorts and branded residences across six continents, sees this partnership as an opportunity to expand its offering in the Kingdom.
“The signing of this memorandum of understanding with Saudi’s Tourism Development Fund represents a significant step for Minor Hotels, enabling the group to offer a wide variety of products ranging from experiential luxury to serviced apartments, each creating a personalized product for a consumer niche,” said Dillip Rajakarier, Group CEO of Minor International and CEO of Minor Hotels.
The Tourism Development Fund drives investments while working toward attracting direct funding into the hospitality and tourism sector by linking private organizations with financing opportunities in the Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia is the region's leader in hotel building activity with over 40,000 rooms under construction as of March, according to data released in April by the hotel industry monitoring company STR.
The Kingdom contributes 35.1 percent of the region’s total keys under construction, with 42,033 hotel rooms.
This comes as key performance metrics in Saudi Arabia’s hospitality sector continue to rise, with major cities seeing a jump in occupancy levels.
