Swiss Belhotel International Group is planning to open 10 new hotels in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Iraq in 2015 as part of an expansion strategy in the region, the head of the group’s operations and development said.

Noel Massoud, Swiss Belhotel's vice president operations and development in the Middle East, said the group recorded strong performance in the region in 2014 and expected growth to continue through 2015 as a result of expansions.

Swiss Belhotel is also considering a number of offers to manage and build new hotels in Dubai, UAE, which is considered as the most important tourism market in the region.

Massoud said the group has been involved in negotiations to open new hotels in UAE capital Abu Dhabi besides other hotels in Saudi Arabia - two in Riyadh, one in Makkah and one in the southern town of Abha.

According to him, Swiss-Belhotel would manage the two hotels in Riyadh under its brand name following an agreement signed in November last year.

He described the Saudi market as large and one of the most lucrative tourism markets in the region, adding that a regional manager has been appointed to oversee the Group’s hotels in Saudi Arabia.

Swiss Belhotel would also open a new hotel in Muscat, Oman, at the end of this year and is locked in negotiations to have another hotel in Doha, Qatar, stated Massoud.

According to him, the Group’s hotels in the region include one in Doha, one in Bahrain, Resort Ghantoot in Abu Dhabi, and one in Kuwait. Plans are afoot to open new hotels in Oman, Iraq, and Qatar in 2015.

Swiss Belhotel is also negotiating to enter the “promising” Jordanian market. "We are also interested in entering new markets including Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco in 2015," he added.

Massoud said the group’s property portfolio was likely to reach 136 hotels in 2016, thus making it one of the fastest growing hotel chains in the world.

Massoud said the group owns 30 hotels in Indonesia and is planning to expand in that region and other markets in the world.

"Swiss-Belhotel International has decided to focus on its regional operations in Dubai to follow up its expansion plans that include the opening of at least 20 hotels in the Gulf and other parts of the Middle East," he remarked.

“The group currently has operations in a large number of countries including the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Iraq, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service