Emaar Hospitality Adds 2 Dubai Hotels to Management Portfolio

Thursday, Jul 05, 2012

DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Dubai's Emaar Hospitality Group, the hospitality and leisure subsidiary of property developer Emaar Properties (EMAAR.DFM), said Thursday it acquired management of Al Manzil and Qamardeen hotels in Dubai from Southern Sun Hotel Group, adding to its portfolio of seven hotels in Dubai.

Emaar Hospitality Group, which contributed 1.22 billion U.A.E. dirhams ($332 million) to the company's annual revenues in 2011, will be assuming the day-to-day operations of the two hotels, the Group said in an emailed statement.

"Tourism and hospitality are the key growth drivers of Dubai, and over the years, we have acquired strong competencies in the hospitality and leisure sector through our world-class assets in Dubai," said Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties.

After being hit hard by the fallout from the global financial crisis, Dubai is now seen to be enjoying a rebound in trade and tourism. Room occupancy rates at Dubai hotels averaged 74.4% last year, according to Dubai Statistics Center data, up from 70% in 2010.

Emaar Properties shares are trading up 0.7% at AED3.05 Thursday.

-By Tahani Karrar-Lewsley, Dow Jones Newswires; +971-4-446-1686; tahani.karrar@dowjones.com; Twitter: @ZDJnews