Tourism Hotel group Rotana to open new casino resort in Georgia By Melissa Hancock May 30, 2023, 2:28 PM 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. Rotana checks in to London’s business hotel market Al Habtoor steers away from recession-hit Europe Harrods checks into hotels as it awaits return of Chinese shoppers 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.
Mining Ma’aden signs $1bn contracts to develop industrial cities Saudi mineral giant Ma’aden has signed three contracts worth a combined $922 million with foreign companies to develop a third phosphate fertiliser project. The majority state-owned Saudi mining company announced the agreements in a note to the Saudi bourse on Thursday, coinciding with the final day of the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh. Ma’aden is […] 4 hours ago
Tax $660m a year ‘sin tax’ target set by Kuwait Kuwait hopes to raise 200 million dinars ($660 million) a year through a “sin tax” on unhealthy products as part of tax reforms proposed by the International Monetary Fund, the country’s finance minister said on Wednesday. Noora Al-Fassam told the official Kuwaiti news agency that her ministry was working on a new law for a […] 3 hours ago
Transport Tenders issued for high speed Abu Dhabi-Dubai rail link Tenders have been issued for the design and construction of central components in a high-speed rail link between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Etihad Rail, the national rail company of the UAE, has sent out tenders for designing and constructing civil works and station packages for the line connecting the two cities as part of the […] 2 hours ago
EXCLUSIVE Aviation Wizz Air increases flights from UAE to Israel after ceasefire The budget carrier Wizz Air is increasing the number of flights between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv after the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. The airline had previously scaled back its Tel Aviv-Abu Dhabi service to four flights a week because of the conflict, down from its pre-crisis schedule of two flights a day. […] 2 hours ago
