Dur Hospitality's Saudi hotel brand Makarem Hotels has set a goal to expand its portfolio in Medina and Makkah, Saudi Arabia to include more than 5,000 operating guestrooms by 2023, according to a report from the Saudi Gazette.
The new additions to the pipeline fall in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 urban development initiative to increase the number of pilgrims to the holy cities annually. The new hotels will expand Dur Hospitality's four-hotel portfolio in Makkah while the company will enter the Medina market.
Makarem will also expand in these holy cities through renovations of its existing hotels. One of these projects is the expansion of the Makarem Ajyad Makkah hotel. The group will add a tower with new guestrooms to the existing building. The project is slated to be complete by 2020.
Dur Hospitality recently expanded its presence in the kingdom through a franchise agreement with InterContinental Hotels Group in February 2018. The 304-room Riyadh Palace Hotel will begin operating as the Crowne Plaza Riyadh Palace in June 2018. The two groups signed a master development agreement in 2014 to open four hotels. The new Crowne Plaza is the second hotel under the agreement to open, following the 90-room Holiday Inn, Tabuk. The other two hotels will open under the Holiday Inn brand by 2019.
The new hotels in Makkah and Madinah will join Dur Hospitality's portfolio of 17 hotels in Saudi Arabia. These operate under its Makarem brand along with Marriott International brands Marriott Hotels, Marriott Executive Apartments and Marriott Courtyard and IHG brands Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn.