Dubai Holding has announced that its hospitality business, Jumeirah Group, is to operate its first hotel in Saudi Arabia after signing a deal for a new five-star hotel in Mecca.
The investment company has signed with Jabal Omar Development Company to operate a major hotel housed in four towers offering views overlooking Mecca's Grand Mosque. Jumeirah Group's hotel will have 1,033 guest rooms and will also operate 93 villas and a range of food and beverage outlets, as well as an executive lounge, a gym and more than 90 retail units. The hotel is due to open in early 2019, it said.
The deal will take the total number of hotels Jumeirah Group operates to 22, housing some 7,164 rooms. The latest move follows a similar agreement signed by Dubai's Emaar Properties last month to open an Address Hotels + Resorts-branded property with 1,490 hotel rooms and suites, also near the Grand Mosque in Mecca, which is also due to open in 2019.
Edris Al Rafi, the chief executive of Dubai Holding, said the deal marked a "key milestone" in the next phase of Jumeirah Group's international expansion strategy.
"It will also mark the group's first presence in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia in [Mecca], one of the holiest sites in the world and the highest in real estate value."
Yasser Al Sharif, the chief executive of Jabal Omar Development , added: "We are pleased to work with an established global hospitality brand grown in our region, such as Jumeirah Group, and we look forward to a fruitful cooperation."
A study published last month by CBRE stated that the supply of hotels in Mecca is set to increase by more than 80 per cent over the next five years.
Although the city currently has 45,000 rooms in 110 hotels, some 35,000 more are due to be added between 2017 and 2022.
Jabal Omar Development is the firm responsible for developing more than 2 million square metres of hotel and residential tower clusters overlooking the Grand Mosque.
Four phases of the project have been launched so far, but in March the company said it had gained permission for a fifth, sixth and seventh phase.
The company has said it also expects to complete the sale of three of the early hotels it has developed – the Mecca Conrad, Mecca Hilton and Hyatt Regency Mecca – to Alinma Investment in a 6 billion Saudi riyals (Dh5.87bn) transaction that is due to complete next month.
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
THE%20SWIMMERS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESally%20El-Hosaini%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENathalie%20Issa%2C%20Manal%20Issa%2C%20Ahmed%20Malek%20and%20Ali%20Suliman%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
