Tourism

Qatar-backed owner of Claridge’s to open hotel in Dubai

By Neil Hannigan

December 9, 2024, 6:18 PM

Claridge's Hotel. Maybourne also owns the Berkeley, the Connaught and the Emory in London

Maybourne has six luxury hotels
Aims to have 15-17 by 2035
UAE hotel will be a new build

Maybourne Hotels, the owner of Claridge’s in London, is planning to expand to Dubai, Paris, New York and Miami, its co-chief executive has said.

The company, owned by Qatari royals Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani and Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, owns and operates six hotels – four in London and one each in the French Riviera and Beverly Hills.

Co-chief executive Gianluca Muzzi said Maybourne was aiming to have 15-17 hotels by 2035, half of which would be under management contract rather than ownership.

Previously the company was focused on its existing luxury hotels, “to preserve their identity”, Muzzi told the Financial Times.

“What we are doing now is to establish and strengthen the presence of the management company – Maybourne itself.”

The hotels in Dubai and New York will be new builds, Muzzi said, without giving more details on location.

The group is also looking into Asia for future expansion, targeting cities such as Singapore and Tokyo.

Despite a 40 percent rise in revenue, Maybourne posted a pre-tax loss of £11.1 million ($14.1 million) in 2023 because of inter-company loan expenses.

Claridge’s made a $9.2 million pre-tax profit for the year.

Demand for luxury travel is expected to grow faster than for any other industry segment, according to consultancy McKinsey, driven in part by a rise in the number of high net worth individuals in the UAE.

In its report The State of Tourism and Hospitality 2024, published in May, McKinsey said the number of “aspiring luxury travellers” – people with net worths between $100,000 and $1 million – is increasing and many of them are younger than the traditional image of a luxury traveller.