HMH Unveils Ambitious Expansion Plans for GCC

HMH - Hospitality Management Holdings has unveiled ambitious expansion plans for the GCC.

Laurent A. Voivenel, CEO, HMH, said, "By 2020 our aim is to have a hotel in every GCC country while doubling our portfolio in Dubai and we certainly believe it is achievable. Dubai's successful bid for World Expo 2020 is a massive stimulant for the entire (GCC) region's hospitality and meetings industry accelerating economic growth and development. The GCC's hospitality market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 8.1% to $28.3 billion by 2016 compared to $19.2 billion in 2011. The Expo will deliver global exposure for the UAE and its tourism sector, including its world-class infrastructure. Therefore, being based in Dubai, it presents an unprecedented opportunity for our group and our various brands that we are eager to capitalize on."

HMH has a strong presence in the region, with 20 hotels in operation and five new properties opening later this year in quick succession.

Coral Muscat Hotel & Apartments, Coral Dubai Sports City Hotel & Apartments, Coral Beirut Concorde Hotel, EWA Khartoum Hotel & Apartments and EWA Port Sudan Hotel & Apartments are all in advanced stages of development and are expected to welcome their first guests by the last quarter of 2014 / beginning of 2015.

The new hotels will boost the existing HMH portfolio by 25%. In addition, HMH has a solid development pipeline with the group scouting opportunities to roll out its budget brand to cater to the growing segment of low-cost travellers.

Laurent stressed, "Besides the above five hotels, we plan to add another two properties to our portfolio in 2015 and two in 2016. With a value-oriented and disciplined approach our objective is to unlock HMH's full potential while maximizing operating performance of each asset we put our name to."

The Middle East/Africa hotel development pipeline comprises of 498 hotels totalling 120,119 rooms. Dubai has the largest number of rooms under construction (10,970 rooms). Five other markets reported more than 2,000 rooms under construction: Makkah, Saudi Arabia (6,927 rooms); Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (5,804 rooms); Doha, Qatar (4,944 rooms); Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (3,036 rooms); and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (2,569 rooms).