Rotana, a leading hotel management company in the region, has signed deals for 10 new hotels in the UAE, Iran, Tanzania and Sudan.

The new hotels are expected to open before 2020, a statement said.

Cementing its position as the largest hotel operator in the UAE, Rotana has signed five new hotels in Dubai, which will increase the company’s total number of properties in the emirate to 20.

The company is looking ahead to a 2017 opening in the busy Creek district of a 280-room combined in two hotels, a 2018 opening in Al Barsha of a 163-room property under the “Arjaan Hotel Apartments by Rotana” brand, and a 528-room hotel under the “Rotana Hotels & Resort” brand, combined with a 100-room property under the “Arjaan Hotel Apartments by Rotana” in the Wafi area, also set to open by 2018. The new properties will bring Rotana’s total number of rooms in the UAE to 13,518, it said.

“Dubai continues to be a focus market for us and with Expo 2020 expected to further boost an already strong hospitality market, we plan on widening our footprint in the emirate. The new hotels will enable us to strengthen our market share in high demand areas,” said Omer Kaddouri, president & CEO of Rotana.

Rotana also announced its plans to enter the Iranian market with four properties, all of which will be opened under the company’s alcohol-free brand “Rayhaan Hotels & Resorts” by Rotana. The first two hotels will open in Mashhad – a 362-room hotel in 2017, followed by a 275-room hotel in 2018.  In Tehran, Rotana will launch two further Rayhaan properties by 2018 – a 5-star hotel housing 194 rooms and a 4-star hotel that will have 210 rooms.

The new hotel signed in Sudan will mark the arrival of the second Rotana property in the Sudanese capital, following the Al Salam Rotana property in Khartoum. The hotel is set to open  by 2019 with 221 rooms. Rotana has also signed on a 249-room project in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam.

“The opening of these new hotels in these four markets falls in line with our strategic goal to operate 100 hotels by 2020. These are in addition to the properties announced earlier which will open in Turkey, Erbil, Jordan and Qatar,” said Kaddouri.  –TradeArabia News Service