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Hotel group Rotana to open new casino resort in Georgia

By Melissa Hancock
Pontus Rotana Georgia Rotana
Pontus Rotana is set to be Georgia's largest hotel complex
  • Abu Dhabi-based Rotana to open its first resort in Georgia
  • Development is in partnership with Georgia’s Pontus Capital
  • It will offer 600 keys for business and leisure travellers

Abu Dhabi hotel management company Rotana is opening a new casino resort on the Black Sea coast in Georgia in 2026.

Set to be the largest hotel complex in the country, the five-star Pontus Rotana Resort & Spa, Gonio, will add 600 keys to Rotana’s growing global footprint and provide access to world-class gaming at the grand casino.

The resort is being developed in partnership with one of Georgia’s largest developers, Pontus Capital.

The coastal town of Gonio is known for its picturesque beaches and green, mountainous landscape.

Guy Hutchinson, CEO of Rotana, said the group was “excited” about its Georgia debut “as we continue to expand our footprint internationally with new regions in the pipeline”.

Rotana operates 73 hotels across the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and Turkey, serving more than six million guests per year, including 10,012 keys across 36 hotels in the UAE alone.

In July last year, Rotana signed a new agreement to operate a property in Luxor, as Egypt continues to be the dominant player in Africa’s hotel sector.

The five-star Luxor Rotana is set to open in 2025 and will be the group’s second hotel in Egypt, following the Grand Rotana Resort and Spa in Sharm El Sheikh.

Earlier this month, Rotana unveiled a $1 billion-plus plan to enter the London business hotel market with the opening of two serviced apartment blocks in south-west London under the Centro brand, aimed at business travellers.

It also plans to open seven hotels in Saudi Arabia and has five hotels in the pipeline across Cairo and the North Coast. This will expand its hotel portfolio to 120 sites, spanning 28,000 keys, by 2030.

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