• The Group continues its aggressive expansion with 3 new hotels set to open in the Saudi market
• New properties launched across the GCC and in Turkey and Africa
• Rotana to become the largest hotel operator in Qatar and Bahrain and reinforce its market leadership in the UAE in 2015

Rotana has announced plans to substantially grow its portfolio in 2015 with the addition of 11 new properties spanning the most exciting regional markets - the United Arab Emirates, KSA, Qatar, Bahrain and Turkey, in addition to its first property in the African market. The announcement came on the sidelines of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2015, the region’s leading travel and tourism event which opened today at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

The new properties - all of which are scheduled to open before the year-end - will add 2,765 rooms to Rotana’s existing 13,359 - strong room count across the region.

Rotana’s big entry into Turkey - one of Europe’s fastest-growing hospitality markets - will see the group open two hotels in the country on 1st June 2015 with a total inventory of 318 rooms, while its two new properties in Qatar - which includes the brand’s second 5-star hotel and first Centro hotel in the country with a combined inventory of 600 rooms - will make it the largest hotel operator in this Arabian Gulf state with a portfolio of four hotels.

Already the leading hotel operator in the UAE, Rotana is set to take its total number of properties in the capital to 13 with the impending opening of Capital Centre Arjaan by Rotana Abu Dhabi, and is also poised to extend its footprint in the Kingdom of Bahrain with the opening of Downtown Rotana, the group’s third property in the island nation.

A further three properties are set to open in Saudi Arabia - including the first five star Rotana hotel in capital Riyadh and the kingdom’s first Centro hotels, to be located in Jeddah and Riyadh - which are expected to add 772 rooms to the existing inventory. As part of its continued expansion in the African market, Rotana will open the 100-room Kinshasa Arjaan by Rotana this year, set to come up in the sprawling capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The new properties will create significant employment opportunities and Rotana has said it plans to hire more than 10,000 individuals over the next five years to operate the hotels.

“Rotana has a very robust development pipeline and the extension of the Rotana brand into new markets such as Turkey, while reinforcing our presence in the fast-growing Gulf markets where we have already built up an enviable market share, brings us closer to realizing our ambitious vision of operating 100 hotels by 2020,” said Omer Kaddouri, President & CEO of Rotana. “With a carefully considered expansion strategy in place, we are constantly looking for high-growth opportunities and all of these markets offered exciting prospects for us to extend our award-winning hospitality offering.”

He added, “Faster economic growth and the globalization of travel have meant that middle income groups are contributing more and more towards tourist inflows into regional markets, and as a result, budget hotels have emerged as one of the fastest growing sub-sectors within the hotel industry. Rotana was among the first to recognize this trend and pioneered the concept of affordable boutique hotels in the region with its Centro brand, and the fact that we now have as many as three new Centro properties opening within the year reflects our confidence in the budget hotel segment’s ability to gain continued traction in the years to come.”

New Rotana properties set to open in 2015 include Burgu Arjaan by Rotana, Istanbul; Tango Arjaan by Rotana, Istanbul; Dalga Residences by Rotana, Istanbul; City Centre Rotana, Doha; Centro Doha; Downtown Rotana, Bahrain; Capital Centre Arjaan by Rotana, Abu Dhabi; Centro Shaheen, Jeddah; Centro Waha, Riyadh; Rosh Rayhaan by Rotana, Saudi Arabia, and Kinshasa Arjaan by Rotana, Democratic Republic of Congo.