Oman Hotels and Tourism to invest $260M toward new hotel development

Oman Hotels and Tourism will invest about $260 million to build 10 hotels in Oman by 2021. The upcoming three- and four-star hotels will have a total of 2,000 guestrooms. The investment will be funded by way of internal accruals and local Islamic banks, who have "an appetite for these projects," Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Khonji, chairman of Oman Hotels and Tourism, said in a statement.

According to the Times of Oman, Oman Hotels and Tourism has agreed to develop two hotel projects. The company will invest about $33.7 million in a four-star 220-room hotel in Al Khuwair and about $18.2 million in a three-star 200-room hotel in Duqm. They will both be signed within two months.
  

The new hotels planned for Muscat and other cities in Oman will meet the growing demand for additional hotel rooms from tourists and business travelers. According to a KPMG study, the number of foreign tourists to Oman will rise to 11 million by 2040, compared to the 1.4 million now. “Tourism will be the second major sector, after oil. Oman is ready for attracting tourists, and the private sector has to undertake the initiative and risk,” Al Khonji added.

As part of the company's five-year business plan, the new hotels will be developed in close cooperation with international brands. According to Al Khonji, the group supports the government's policy of enhancing public-private partnership in several fields.
 
The hotel investor currently owns four hotels—the 81-room Tulip Inn Downtown in Ruwi, the 105-room Sur Plaza, the 79-room Al Wadi Hotel and the 53-room Desert Nights Camp. It will increase the number of hotel rooms at the Tulip Inn Downtown to 180 rooms by the end of 2017. The proposed expansion will increase Oman Hotels and Tourism's total number of hotel rooms to 2,417 by 2021.

The hotels will also comply with Sharia law and will be dry hotels. “We have carried out several studies on the tourism market, population growth, urban areas and the needs of specific regions before starting our projects to make sure that our efforts will make all success required to maintain and strengthen our reputation as a leading company in the field of tourism investments in the Sultanate,” Al Khonji added.

Oman Hotels and Tourism has also launched a new logo and brand, which reflect continued developments in the tourism sector. They present the long, 45-year history of the company.  

The hotel company's current portfolio includes four hotels: Desert Nights Camp, in the Al Wasil-Sharoiya desert; Ruwi Hotel, in Muscat; Al Wadi Hotel, in Sohar; and the Sur Plaza Hotel, in Sur.