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Market’s adaptation
I’ve meet Samir Nasser, Senior Vice President, Operations, Middle East, Africa & India and we have discussed about market’s adaptation for Fairmont & Raffles brands.
Fairmont is developing in MEAI. What are the specificities about these markets ? How Fairmont adapt his standards and services to each market?
During the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in early May, FRHI announced a robust pipeline program for the region reflecting in seven new hotels within the next five years. This is in-line with our goal of becoming the preferred hospitality company in the region and beyond, and will complement the 19 existing hotels in the Middle East, Africa and India,Set to open in key strategic markets – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Nigeria – these include the imminent openings of Fairmont Riyadh, Business Gate (304 rooms) and Fairmont Ajman (254 rooms) in the UAE.
Other announced projects include the Fairmont Abu Dhabi Marina with 563 rooms and 249 residences, the 182 room Fairmont Fujairah, and the first Swissôtel in Dubai – Swissôtel al Jaddaf – bringing 260 guest rooms to this vibrant market in the UAE.
Alongside the preopening of the Fairmont Riyadh, this strategic project will be joined by the Raffles Jeddah and Swissôtel Jeddah, with a combined room count of 455. These exciting developments from all three brands in the Kingdom will complement our existing portfolio of landmark Raffles, Fairmont and Swissôtel properties located in the iconic Royal Clock Tower complex in Makkah.
Raffles Makkah Palace
The success of our existing properties in Cairo has led the way for a great opportunity in Sharm el Sheikh with over 1800 hotel rooms and residences across three brands as part of a three phase project that will include residential and recreational components around the world’s largest man made Chrystal lagoon.
We are also gearing up to open our first Fairmont property in the Jordanian capital of Amman, adding 309 rooms to this very promising market as well as our first Fairmont hotel in Lagos, Nigeria with 220 hotel keys and 54 services residences.
The brand standards for all these new developments will be supported by FRHI’s Dubai Regional Office located within the corporate community in Dubai. Real time support and expertise in the areas of Operations, Finance, Human Resources, Sales & Marketing, Development, Food & Beverage, Design & Construction and Technology, will ensure that these projects will receive ample support and guidance throughout pre and post opening phases, and beyond as fully operating hotels.
Moreover, these announced properties will set the foundation for an even larger development plan for Middle East, Africa and India, as we plan to grow the number of properties to double our existing portfolio in the region by 2020.
Raffles Dubai
Laurent Delporte, an editor and conference speaker, is a strategic expert in the sector of hotels. A visionary, he brings his unique look on hotels in service to the decision-makers in the industry, whether to enhance the development of new projects or strategic visions.
Laurent has visited and audited over 350 hotels across the world and also participates in mystery visits to provide quality control for the world’s finest hotels.
