Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide is expanding in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The company has signed a new Sheraton in Makkah, also known as Mecca.
Owned by Altayyar Travel Group Holding Company, the Sheraton Makkah Jabal Al Kaaba is scheduled to open by the end of the year. The hotel is located close to the new expansion of the mosque and will have 414 rooms as well as branded service apartments.
“Makkah has been a particular focus for Starwood growth, with Sheraton being one of three brands to make its entrance into the market in the next year,” Michael Wale, president, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Europe, Africa and Middle East, said in a statement.
“Saudi Arabia remains one of our strongest growth markets in the region and we are on track to more than double our presence in the country in the next three years,” Neil George, SVP of acquisitions and development, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Africa and Middle East, added. “With the growth of religious travel into Saudi Arabia, there continues to be a strong demand for hotels within the holy city and Starwood is in an enviable position with a pipeline of more than 3,000 new rooms in addition to 1,200 existing rooms in this market.”
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Abdullah Aldawood, CEO of Altayyar Travel Group, said that the Group had recently taken a "strategic direction" to integrate and expand its business into the hospitality sector, and to build a "solid portfolio complementing its current business of travel-related services and e-commerce."
Starwood operates more than 50 hotels and resorts across the Middle East under eight of the company’s ten brands, including The Luxury Collection, St. Regis, Sheraton, Westin, W, Le Méridien, Four Points by Sheraton and Aloft. The company is on track to operate 100 hotels in the region by 2020.