Thailand's Centara Hotels & Resorts has partnered with UAE-based developer Nakheel in a THB2.63-billion joint venture contract to develop a beachfront resort at Dubai’s Deira Islands.
Centara’s first hotel in the UAE—the 601-room Centara Deira Islands Beach Resort Dubai—is scheduled to open in fourth-quarter 2020. Centara will manage the property as part of Nakheel's Deira Islands waterfront city.
“This signing ceremony marks a profound milestone of expansion for Centara as we continue to extend our upscale resort portfolio internationally,” Thirayuth Chirathivat, CEO of Centara Hotels & Resorts, said in a statement.
The new hotel will follow Centara's first Middle Eastern hotel—the Centara Muscat Hotel—which opened in 2017. It will expand the group's existing portfolio of 60 hotels and resorts with more than 12,000 guestrooms in Asia, the Indian Ocean and the Middle East.
Centara Deira Islands Beach Resort Dubai will in open the same year as the recently signed Cosi hotel. Centara entered a hotel-management agreement with Chuan Development Hotel to develop the 142-room Cosi Krabi Ao Nang Beach. The property will be Centara's third Cosi in South Thailand.
This recent signing is part of the company's previously announced plan to expand, with a goal of doubling its revenue and portfolio within the next five years. Hotels are slated to open in new locations in Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Middle East and the Caribbean. Centara also will enter markets in East Asia and Africa and operate under new brands, including Cosi.