Asian hospitality group Dusit International entered into a joint venture hotel management agreement with a local partner in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Dusit International and regional hoteliers Dyar Hotels and Resorts held a signing ceremony to formally establish a joint Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), venture hospitality management company. Dyar has over 30 years of experience owning and operating hotels throughout the GCC.
The new company has three projects confirmed in the pipeline. One will be located in Jeddah under the Dusit Thani label, while the other two projects, to be located in both Jeddah and Doha, will come under the company's dusitD2 brand, whose newest hotel recently celebrated its Grand Opening in Nairobi, Kenya.
A further five properties are currently under negotiation in the Holy Cities of Makkah and Madinah, which together form the largest tourism market within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 2014 alone, the Holy Cities collectively welcomed 18 million visitors and this number is expected to surge to 23 million by 2020. This exceptional market is amply catered for by Dyar's sister company Nebras for Tourism Development, an established tourism company providing integrated services for visitors and pilgrims, affiliated with over 60 agents from the Far East, Africa, Australia, Europe and the Middle East. It is also one of only 48 companies authorised by the Ministry of Hajj to issue Religious Tourism visas.