World’s Largest Hotel Operator Witnesses Growth in Saudi Arabia

World’s Largest Hotel Operator Witnesses Growth in Saudi Arabia

The hospitality sector has been hit hard by the pandemic. In Saudi Arabia, international flights have been suspended since March 2020. Hajj and Umrah seasons, which are essential drivers of the market, were canceled, meaning that the industry has lost millions of domestic and international pilgrims over the past year.

However, with the region getting ready to return to traveling, a vigorous recovery is expected within the coming 12 months.

“I believe that it’s going to be a good year, 12 months at least, before we start seeing things to come back into full force,” Dimitris Manikis, president and managing director Europe for the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) at Wyndham Hotels and Resorts (WHR), told Arab News.

The EMEA president of the largest hotel franchisor in the world stressed that the desire to travel has only intensified during the pandemic, especially with the vaccines becoming more widely distributed and governments increasing interest in health passports to facilitate safe travel.

However, the extent to which those policies will have an immediate positive impact in boosting the sector’s recovery will only be revealed in the next few months, according to Manikis.

But Manikis said: “We are seeing the recovery in certain markets already. For example, in