Al Moosa Enterprises to open Hilton, Marriott and Taj hotels on Palm Jumeirah next year

Abdullah A. Al Moosa Enterprises, the privately-owned Dubai-based group of companies, has announced it is to open three new hotels containing more than 1,500 rooms on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah in the first quarter of next year.

The group is opening two 13-storey, 608-room hotels – a Hilton and a Marriott – on adjoining sites on the trunk of the Palm, as well as a 285-room Taj Exotica hotel.

Laurent Rigaud, general manager of the group’s hospitality arm, said that construction on the three properties, which began two years ago, is likely to complete by the end of this year, with a handover to operators due early next year.

“Then you need to give it to the operator, and the operator then needs three months to really fine-tune everything in sight.” Rigaud told journalists at the Arabian Travel Market conference and exhibition in Dubai on Sunday. “Hopefully, it will open by the summer.”

Rigaut declined to give an investment value for the three projects. He said that the operators chosen were the result of existing relationships. The company already operates three Hilton hotels in Dubai, as well as two Four Points by Sheraton, a couple of Ramada-branded properties in Dubai and Sharjah, and the Crowne Plaza Muscat in Oman.

“We feel that working with the big brands, they have a system (of) delivery. When you open one of these brands, automatically you will have the loyalty programme activated, reservations online, plus the marketing structure is very powerful,” he said.

He added that the new Taj Exotica hotel (the second Taj-branded property in Dubai) had been identified as “a niche market opportunity”.

By Michael Fahy, ZAWYA