Marriott International will introduce its first Residence Inn by Marriott property for extended stay travellers in the Middle East with an 83-unit hotel in the Saudi Arabian province of Jizan on the Red Sea in 2012.
It will be part of a mixed-use development that will also include a new 129-room upper moderate priced Courtyard by Marriott hotel that, when opened, will be the fourth Courtyard property in the Middle East, and a 58,000-square meter shopping mall.
Marriott will manage both hotels under a long-term agreement recently concluded with Abdulrahman Saad Al-Rashid & Sons Co. Ltd. Both properties are currently under construction in two adjacent towers separated by a shared swimming pool in the northern part of Jizan City close to the municipality and the new Jizan University.
“We’re thrilled by the continued expansion of our lodging portfolio in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to participate in the economic development of Jizan,” said Ed Fuller, president & managing director of international lodging for Marriott International. “Tourism in the Kingdom has strong growth potential with an average increase of 6.5 per cent year-over-year projected through 2014. We’re confident that both these hotels will be successful from Day One because of the power of their brand names, the value and comfort they both offer, their integration with a modern shopping mall and Jizan’s easy accessibility to the renowned offshore Farasan Island archipelago which is recognized for its spectacular coral reefs and abundant underwater life.”
