Brand offering upscale standards at a fair rate attracts tourists, business travellers and event organisers with superior service and locations

Crowne Plaza hotels and resorts across the Middle East and Africa are continuing to set new benchmarks for quality affordable leisure accommodation, while meeting the expectations of a changing business market.

Following the introduction of “Meeting Success”, a global programme guaranteeing specially tailored service for meetings, conference and event organisers, the region’s Crowne Plaza properties have been unveiling an impressive range of new, extended and refurbished facilities.

In the Sultanate of Oman’s capital, the Crowne Plaza Muscat, already a popular conference and business meeting venue, has recently completed refurbishments, additions and equipment improvements to its conference facilities.

“This makes the hotel an even more attractive option in a very competitive market,” says Magdi Samman, Six Continents Hotels’ Area Director, Sales and Marketing, Upscale, Middle East and Africa, who was speaking at the World Travel Market in Earl’s Court, London today. Organisers of conferences, meetings, product launches and other corporate events demand flexibility, individuality and attention to detail, and we are providing these, along with enhanced facilities and accommodation to match.”

Renovation work at the Crowne Plaza Muscat has transformed the hotel’s conference facility and introduced improved business rooms and allocated office space to cater for overnight conference delegates and guests. With 208 rooms and VIP suites, its restaurants offer Persian, Italian, Lebanese, international and traditional cuisine and guests have access to a gym, sauna, squash and hotel and beach swimming.

The hotel is one of ten Crowne Plaza properties in the Middle East and Africa where the “Meeting Success” programme is making the staging of meetings, conferences and special events hassle-free for organisers, and successful.

Its key ingredients include permanent support from a team of professionally trained specialist staff, adaptability to stage large or small meetings, and availability of comprehensive business services and essential equipment. A single sales consultant guides organisers through the booking process, and a conference concierge manages the event from start to finish.

The Crowne Plaza brand has also infused Middle East tourism with hotels and resorts drawing heavily on Arab cultures and architecture. Recently welcomed to the fold following a major refurbishment and rebranding, the Crowne Plaza Resort Petra in Jordan enjoys a superb location adjacent to the entrance of the world famous, 3,000 year-old archaeological site of Petra. The resort’s 178 deluxe rooms are elegantly designed in harmony with a stunning setting overlooking the Petra Valley - all this within walking distance of remarkable millennia old tombs, temples and other historical features which make Jordan such a unique travel destination.

Bringing the magic of Moroccan architectural style to Egypt’s Red Sea Riviera is the Crowne Plaza Resort Sharm El Sheikh. In unobtrusive splendour overlooking El Pacha Bay, the 329 deluxe room resort is the first of two Crowne Plaza resorts to open on Egypt’s South Sinai coastline. The Crowne Plaza Resort Abu Soma opens in Februrary 2002.

The brand arrives in Lebanon early next year, and the Crowne Plaza Beirut is perfectly placed to provide both leisure and corporate accommodation and facilities. It shares Hamra Street with restaurants, shopping complexes and cinemas, and is close to many corporate headquarters, embassies, diplomatic and political residences, and academic establishments. Also in the Middle East and Africa, Six Continents Hotels currently manages Crowne Plaza hotels in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Jeddah, Kuwait, Johannesburg, Zimbabwe and Casablanca.