Hyatt Hotels, a leading global hospitality brand, plans to open a number of new hotels in Saudi Arabia in the next five years, said a report.  

The chain plans to open hotels in Makkah, Riyadh and Jeddah, with the first of these properties, the 600-key Hyatt Regency Makkah, opening in the Holy City next month, said a report in the Saudi Gazette.

The chain plans to open three hotels in Makkah, two in Riyadh and two more in Jeddah.

The UAE also remains interesting to Hyatt, which plans to open more properties in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The group considers the Saudi Arabian market to be a critical tourist market around the world because of the increasing number of Saudi travellers.  

With Dubai being a top favourite among the Saudi Arabian tourists, it is a very important market to the UAE as well.

The opening of the Hyatt Regency Dubai Creek Towers on March 1 witnessed a surge in the tourists, particularly from the neighbouring Saudi Arabian market.

Nasri Abou Hassan, Sales Manager of Grand Hyatt Dubai and Hyatt Regency Dubai Creek Heights, told the Saudi Gazette that the hotel was ‘totally booked’ by tourists from Saudi Arabia, two weeks into its opening.

Looking to bank on this burgeoning tourist market, the Hyatt Group is conducting a ‘Round the Gulf’ workshop tour, which commenced in Jeddah on April 5, and will continue in four cities namely, Riyadh, Kuwait, Doha (Qatar) and Abu Dhabi (UAE).

According to Tareq Daoud, regional vice president, global sales, Middle East, the workshop is aimed at marketing hotel promotions for summer vacations.

“Saudi market is a very active, particularly in the number of bookings in Hyatt hotels and we consider it as one of the important markets,” the report cited Daoud as saying.