Rotana set to open 1st hotel in Iran in less than a year

Rotana, the Abu Dhabi-based hotel management company, says it plans to open its first hotel in Iran in less than a year.

The company has been working on entering Iran for the past few years and is scheduled to open its first hotel there in less than a year.

“We have signed hotels in Tehran, Mashhad and Isfahan. We expect to open our first hotel in Mashhad, a shrine city, by the first quarter of next year,” Arabian Business quoted Rotana’s President and CEO Omer Kaddouri as saying.

Currently, Rotana manages hotels in 26 cities across 13 countries in the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Eastern Europe.

Earlier in 2016, UAE-based hotel group announced that it plans to open four hotels in Iran within years.

‘The first two hotels are set to open in the city of Mashhad – a 362 room hotel in 2017 followed by a 275 room hotel in 2018.’ Corporate director of marketing & communications, Amin Dakkak, told MailOnline Travel in January 2016.

‘In Tehran, Rotana will launch two further Rayhaan properties by 2018 – a five-star hotel will house 194 rooms and a four-star hotel will include 210 rooms.’ Dakkak added.

‘With the lifting of sanctions, we are sure that all developers and operators will be racing to secure their position in one of the world’s largest untapped markets.’

Rotana is a hotel management company in the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Eastern Europe region, which has a portfolio of over 100 properties in 26 cities and operates five sub brands which include Rotana Hotels & Resorts, Centro Hotels, Rayhaan Hotels & Resorts, Arjaan Hotel Apartments and The Residences.

Local news agency Mehr earlier reported that Iran has 1,100 hotels – 130 of them have four and five stars. Iran plans to triple the number of hotels in the country before 2025. Experts believe that by 2025, the number of the tourists arriving in Iran will increase from five million to 20 million.

fair to share...