Middle East Target for Global Lifestyle Properties

The Middle East is likely to see the global launch of other lifestyle hotel brands, according the Senior Vice President Brands, Rezidor SAS Hospitality.

Gordon McKinnon was speaking ahead of his session at the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC), which runs from 29 April to 1 May at Dubai’s Madinat Jumeirah conference centre.

“More international brands will have their flagship fashion properties in the Middle East and this is driven by the economics and personality of the region,” he said.

“It used to be that the hotel world accepted and understood that the product improved as you moved east – base level in the U.S., better in Europe and better again in the Far East. This graph has now taken on a new peak as it crosses certain areas of the Middle East.”

Rezidor SAS Hospitality recently announced that two of the world’s first Missoni hotels will be in Dubai and Kuwait.

Hotel Missoni Dubai, which will have over 250 rooms and is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2008, will be on the Crescent of The Palm, Jumeirah and will be designed as a Mediterranean village with a private harbour. 

Hotel Missoni Kuwait will be the first lifestyle development in the city of Kuwait at the Symphony complex. The 205-room property is due to open in the third quarter of 2007. 

“There is a clear polarisation in terms of hotel ownership with the big getting bigger and the small getting more local. Within that, there also appears to be a growing trend towards greater niche offerings. So although there will always be room for local brands, the trend is much more now towards targeting specific consumer groups,” he explained.

“In the past we have looked at specific brands for the Middle East but concluded that in terms of our own priorities and potential returns against investment, developing broader opportunities is the way forward.”

Last year, Rezidor SAS signed a licence agreement with the Italian fashion house and plans to have 30 Missoni hotels under operation or development by 2010.

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