Dubai’s Meraas launches hotels and resorts subsidiary

Dubai-based holding company Meraas today announced the establishment of a new entity to introduce, operate and manage hotel brands.

Meraas Hotels and Resorts will fall under Meraas Hospitality with the aim of contributing to Dubai’s vision to attract 20 million tourists by 2020.

The entity will integrate hospitality projects developed by Meraas and manage the hotels of independent developers or owners seeking a partner, the company said.

“Meraas is committed to identifying unique opportunities in the market that contribute to achieving the UAE Vision 2021 launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to position the UAE among the best countries in the world. In establishing Meraas Hotels and Resorts, we aim to capitalise on our strong portfolio of projects and the positive market trends projected for the tourism sector to establish new benchmarks in the hospitality industry,” said Meraas group chairman His Excellency, Abdulla Al Habbai.

Earlier this year, the company said it was considering opening its first Meraas-branded hotel following several recent franchise deals.

These include Bvlgari Resort and Residences. The 100-room, 20 hotel villa, 173 apartment and 15 mansion project on Jumeira Bay Island is scheduled for completion in 2017.

Meraas also announced a deal in January with Emaar Hospitality to launch the hotel brand Rove. The two plan 10 properties over the next five years.

In addition, the company signed a deal with Dubai hotel developer Jumeirah in February to launch the new hotel brand Venu at the upcoming Dhs 6bn Bluewaters Island scheme next to Jumeirah beach Resort.

Dubai is expected to need 140,000 to 160,000 rooms by 2020. According to a recent report by Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing, the emirate had 667 hotel establishments in H1 of this year with a total of 94,936 rooms.