Fairmont Hotels and Resorts to open 20 hotels in Middle East and Asia

Fairmont Hotels and Resorts will open 20 hotels worldwide over the next three to four years, mainly in the Middle East and Asia. This information was given by Chris Cahill, President and Chief Operating Officer, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts in Shanghai recently. Included in the new Middle East projects is the highly anticipated, and delayed, Fairmont Palm Jumeirah project that could finally open by Quarter Four of 2011.

According to a report in www.zawya.com, the company’s Middle East portfolio includes the iconic Fairmont The Wave in Muscat and the Makkah Clock Royal Tower in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The latter project is not only competing for the world’s tallest structure but the three-hotel complex is being constructed at an estimated cost of Dh11 billion, according to Mohammed Arkobi, Vice-President and General Manager, Makkah Clock Royal Tower hotel. In the UAE, the Group has announced a project in Abu Dhabi Marina City, which is still in its design phase that should open by Quarter Four of 2012. This is aside from the Fairmont Fujairah that opens in 2011.

David Roberts, Executive Vice President for Operations, Middle East, North Africa and Asia Pacific said, “Fairmont is still very much involved in ongoing discussions with the ownership group and we are depending on them to complete the hotel. We expect it to take one year to complete.”

When asked which hotel brands could find their way across the region and Roberts said that the signature Fairmont brand, Raffles and Swissôtel, all have scope to grow here. He had also added that the Swissotel development would find a better fit in India.

Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Hotels Worldwide, Middle East, Asia, Chris Cahill, President and Chief Operating Officer, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts in Shanghai, Fairmont Palm Jumeirah Project, Fairmont The Wave in Muscat, Makkah Clock Royal Tower in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Arkobi, Vice-President and General Manager, Makkah Clock Royal Tower Hotel, Abu Dhabi Marina City, Fairmont Fujairah