Saleh Fareed
JEDDAH — FRHI Hotels & Resorts (FRHI) revealed plans to further expand its presence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as it announced four new hotel projects in the Kingdom.
This was announced during the kick-off of FRHI’s Middle East Global Sales Roadshow which began here in Jeddah on Sunday in its continuous efforts to enhance business partnerships.
The event kicked off with a Travel Mart where guests were provided with the opportunity to interact with the various hotels’ sales representatives at InterContinental.
Representatives of FRHI’s global portfolio of hotels celebrated with approximately over 200 attendees from the travel trade industry, including travel consultants, tour managers, corporate business clients and guests.
During the event, FRHI showcased 15 hotels in the global FRHI portfolio, including the newly debuted Fairmont Ajman, Fairmont Dubai, The Plaza in New York, Swissôtel Makkah, Swissôtel The Bosphorus, Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris, Raffles Istanbul and Fairmont the Palm.
Paul Ryan, executive director, travel industry sales, FRHI, said: This global sales initiative in the Middle East is now in its sixth year and provides a platform for FRHI to demonstrate its appreciation for the travel industry’s continued support and announce individual hotel initiatives for the coming year.” He added “this forum also allows us to highlight the company’s growing pipeline in the region within the luxury market.”
Speaking about their presence in Saudi market, he said “expansion is a key strategic priority at FRHI, and we have aggressive development plans in place to achieve our projected target of 50% growth over the next five years.”
He pointed out that recognizing the great relationship with the Saudi market emphasizes the long-term relationship.
“Growing our brands with the right product, in the right markets is a key part of our development strategy, so we’re very excited to be entering or increasing our presence in the Saudi market, which is considered as the biggest in the Middle East,” said Ryan.
He added “since our debut in Saudi Arabia over five years ago with our multi-branded hotel complex in Makkah, our brands have been well positioned to appeal to both business and religious tourism in this increasing sophisticated travel market. The five new openings boost what is already an aggressive development plan to achieve our projected target of 50% growth over the next five years.”
Looking beyond 2017, FRHI has a number of hotel development projects underway in markets like China and Africa set to open over the next five years. The company remains focused on international expansion for all three brands with particular emphasis on key markets in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Openings include Swissotel Jeddah in 2017, Raffles Jeddah in 2018 and Swissôtel Al-Khobar in 2020.
