Hotelier Middle East – May 2019

BULLETIN

10 HOTELIER MIDDLE EAST | May 2019 | Volume 18 Issue 05

MIDSCALE: The Bahrain Economic

Development Board (EDB) has

identified a gap in the country’s

beach front, midscale hotel

sector, Ali Murtaza, director – real

estate investments business

development, said, in an exclusive

interview with Hotelier Middle

East at the recently held Arabian

Hotel Investment Conference in

Ras al Khaimah, UAE. Murtaza

said the reason behind the

need for more midscale hotels

in the Bahrain is because GGC

consumers have less “leisure

spends caused by recent, region-

wide changes to oil prices and the

removal of subsidies which has

seen an increase in utility bills.”

Despite the reduction in spending

power, Murtaza said consumers,

who are mainly Saudis, are still

visiting Bahrain but are seeking

less expensive accommodation.

“We [Bahrain] get about

12 million visitors a year for a

population of 1.5 million. Ten

million of those visitor are Saudis.

Bahrain is a drive-through

destination [for Saudis] and

despite their reduced spending

power, they have not stopped

coming,” he added.

Murtaza went on to say how

A

cccor is set to
open its first hotel
property in Salalah
with its Movenpick
brand as it plans to ramp up its
development plans in Oman.
Speaking at the Arabian
Investment Hotel Conference
in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, this
month, Accor’s vice president
for development for the Middle
East, Jean Baptiste-Recher
told Hotelier Middle East that
they have several hotels in
development in the Sultanate.
However, they confirmed
the imminent opening of one
Movenpick brand in Salalah,
one of the areas that the hotel
chain is targeting with its
expansion plans.
Currently Accor only has two
properties open in Oman - an
Ibis hotel in Muscat and a

Mercure property in Sohar.

Accor has around 150 hotels

in operation in the Middle

East and 125 hotels under

construction, mostly in the UAE

and Saudi Arabia.

The hotel chain is also exploring

the opportunity for Oman’s

luxury segment despite not

currently having any high-end

properties in the Sultanate.

Movenpick property in Jeddah,

the main strategy for the EDB

is “coming up with mid-scale,

beachfront developments.”

“When we look at the landscape

of Bahrain, we have fantastic Four

Seasons and Ritz Carltons, and

five star properties on the beach.

But in the mid-scale level, we

realized there’s a shortage.”

Murtaza also said how EDB is

currently working on government-

led masterplans in addressing the

market gap through looking at the

full development of the coastline,

which is the west coast of Bahrain

15 minutes from the King Fahd

Causeway, a series of bridges

and causeways connecting Saudi

Arabia and Bahrain.

“[This development] will cater

to four, three-star and boutique

hotels overlooking the beach,”

he said.

He also said that [Bahrain] is

looking to expand its network of

visitors. To aid this, the Bahrain

Tourism Authority has opened six

international offices, including in

Russia, the Ukraine, Germany and

China.

“We’re looking at bringing

all that family market trends in

addition to catering towards the

existing growing Saudi visitations

to Bahrain,” he added. The EDB

is a semi government entity

chaired by His Excellency the

Crown Prince of Bahrain, Prince

Salman. Murtaza highlighted how

the Board consists of relevant

ministers on the commerce

side, half of whom are “top

businessmen and families”.

Bahrain Economic

Development Board

to help plug midscale

hotel market gap

Decrease in consumer spending behind the drive

for more midscale properties, says Ali Murtaza

Accor to debut in Salalah, Oman

The hotel group will open its first Movenpick brand in the city