Hyatt signs deal for three new Saudi hotels

newsroom.hyatt.com

Hyatt has announced that an affiliate has entered into management agreements for three hotels in Saudi Arabia.

The deal with Rua Al Madinah Holding Company will cover the Grand Hyatt Madinah, Hyatt Regency Madinah and Hyatt Place Madinah. 

Upon opening, these properties will add a combined 1,729 room keys to the hospitality giant’s portfolio in the kingdom.

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They will be the first Hyatt-branded hotels in Madinah, a city that aims to attract 30 million tourists by 2030. 

“Saudi Arabia continues to play a pivotal role in Hyatt’s growth strategy in the Middle East and we are excited to work with Rua Al Madinah Holding Company on the plans for these fantastic properties in Madinah,” said Javier Águila, the group president of Hyatt’s Europe, Middle East and Africa division. 

“We are enthusiastic about Saudi Arabia’s vision and strategy for the country, and glad to see how tourism continues to grow year over year.”

Ahmed Al Juhani, CEO of Rua Al Madinah Holding, added: “The development of these three hotels as part of the Rua Al Madinah masterplan marks an exciting milestone of the entry of Hyatt’s renowned brand portfolio into the city of Madinah.

“We are confident of the positive impact this project will bring to the city’s tourism industry as we progress its development.”

Hyatt currently has six properties across five brands in Saudi Arabia.

Last month, Stuart Deeson, newly appointed vice president of operations for the region at Hyatt, said that Saudi Arabia was witnessing a “significant point in history”. 

Hyatt, which is headquartered in Chicago, anticipates room increases of more than 80 percent in Saudi Arabia by late 2025. Key openings in the next few years include Grand Hyatt The Red Sea, Miraval The Red Sea and Park Hyatt Riyadh Diriyah.

“Our plans align with the kingdom’s Vision 2030 strategy, which is designed to harness the nation’s greatest strengths and help create a more sustainable economy by forging new connections with the world – of which the hospitality sector will play a pivotal role,” Deeson said.

Last week, Saudi Arabia announced the launch of a new stopover visa for tourists which will allow passengers to stay in the country for up to 96 hours. 

Under the Saudi Arabia Vision 2030 strategy, the tourism sector’s contribution to gross domestic product aims to increase to more than 10 percent, while providing 1.6 million additional job opportunities. The country wants to attract 100 million annual visitors by the end of the decade.

United Nations World Tourism Organisation statistics show that Saudi attracted more than 18 million inbound visits in the first three-quarters of 2022, outpacing the UAE (14.8 million tourists) and Morocco (11 million tourists) in the Middle East region.

The kingdom’s tourism ambitions were further boosted last week by the launch of the AlUla Development Company, which will be central to transforming the ancient city into a global tourism destination. 

Planned developments include more than 7,500 hotel keys, 5,000 residential units and a staff village comprising more than 1,000 units, plus supporting infrastructure.