Hotelier Middle East – May 2019

COVER STORY

HOTELIER MIDDLE EAST | May 2019 | Volume 18 Issue 05 35

and expanding its reach further into the
upper-midscale segment of the lodging
industry.
Financially speaking, the group
revealed in its 2018 fourth quarter
and full-year 2018 results that its global
revenues increased to US$1.87 billion in
2018, compared to $1.28 billion in 2017.
Furthermore, its adjusted net income
increased by 45% compared to 2017. In
the fourth quarter, the company’s revenues
increased by 69% and its adjusted net

income increased by 50% over the prior-

year quarter.

TOURISM STRATEGIES

Here in the Middle East, usurprisingly,

Wyndham closely follows what is happening

in the market place. “We see more middle

class travellers, low-cost airlines coming

in, more airlines, airports expanding, and

local regions actually creating independent

tourism strategies,” Mankis says, referring

to tourism initiatives such as Dubai’s Vision

2020 and Saudi Vision 2030, among others.

“For us, watching these trends was an eye-

opener to where things are heading, with

every single market in the region actually

creating a strategy related to tourism. This

is a great message for our hotels brands, but

firstly it is a great message for the owner of

businesses that tourism is a key component

of a business strategy for a region. It is also

a great message for tourists that tourism

has become a key focal point for a country’s

development,” he says.

He points out how for nationals such

tourism strategies mean that tourism is no

longer a given, and that the strategies have

to be built, either by welcoming tourists,

speaking [different] languages, having

amenities and facilities in place, having

decent airports, expanding terminals. “It’s

about getting more low cost airlines to fly

here [to the region] so you can increase the

capacity of the middle class.

“These are trends that you cannot keep

“For us, watching these trends was an

eye-opener to where things are heading”

Dimitri Mankis

BRAND NO. OFHOTELS ROOMS COUNTRIES NO. OF COUNTRIES

DAYS INN 3 350 2 Jordan (2) & KSA (1)

HAWTHORN 4 470 3 UAE (2), Nigeria (1), KSA (1)

HOWARD JOHNSON 3 293 1 UAE (2), KSA (1)

RAMADA 32 6,102 12

Lebanon (2), Morocco (1), Oman (1), KSA (9), Tanzania Bahrain (3), Ethiopia (1), Ghana (1), Iraq (1), Jordan (1),

(1), Tunisia (1), UAE (10)

RAMADA ENCORE 5 577 5 Kuwait (1), Morocco (1), Qatar (1), KSA (1), Tanzania (1)

SUPER 8 1 48 1 KSA (1)

TRYP 2 796 1 UAE (2)

WYNDHAM 2 1,002 2 Qatar (1), UAE (1)

WYNDHAM GARDEN 3 830 3 Bahrain (1), KSA (1), UAE (1)

WYNDHAM GRAND 2 509 2 Bahrain (1), Qatar (1)

Operational brands in the MEA region and a breakdown

of which countries they are located

Wyndham acquired the La Quinta brand earlier this year