Closing Bell: TASI sheds 71 points to 10,878; Lumi Rental Co. shines on trading debut  

Closing Bell: TASI sheds 71 points to 10,878; Lumi Rental Co. shines on trading debut  

ABU DHABI: Global hospitality brand IHG Hotels and Resorts has 50 percent of its regional development in Saudi Arabia with over 100 projects in the pipeline. 

In an interview with Arab News during the Future Hospitality Summit in Abu Dhabi, Haitham Mattar, managing director of Middle East, Africa, and South West Asia at the company, stated that the Kingdom’s powerful tourism agenda has stimulated the need to bolster hospitality in the country. 

“Saudi Arabia has a clear vision, the 2030 Vision aims to invite over 100 million visits to the Kingdom. This reassures the need for more hotel rooms,” Mattar said. 

He added: “The Kingdom aims to build another half-a-million hotel rooms, and we obviously, being the first operator there, have a great name and a reputation to position ourselves to be one of the preferred brands for private investors and for the government.” 

Mattar revealed that IHG is actively working on approximately 160 hotel projects in the region, set for design and development, with over half of these endeavors based in the Kingdom. 

He further highlighted that IHG was the pioneering five-star international brand to mark its presence in Saudi Arabia, launching the InterContinental Riyadh in 1975. 

Having been one of the initial international entrants