Swiss-Belhotel International to double presence in EMEA region by 2025

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Gavin M. Faull, chairman and president of Swiss-Belhotel International - Supplied

Swiss-Belhotel International has announced that it is embarking on an aggressive expansion strategy across the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, which will see the group double its footprint in the region by 2025.

Speaking at the Arabian Travel Market 2022 exhibition in Dubai, Laurent A. Voivenel, SVP – Operations & Development, EMEA & India at Swiss-Belhotel International, stated that the group is well positioned for “continued growth” in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

“We are witnessing tremendous interest in our brands from both existing and new owners who are showing keenness to invest and build more hotels with us,” he said. “Following our development strategy, we have set an ambitious target of doubling our portfolio in the EMEA region in the next three years and are making great progress in that direction with several exciting projects under negotiation. Africa looks very promising with significant potential for our diverse brands. In addition, we are heading into the European market with an unmatched deal for owners and investors and seeing some strong interest.”

Gavin M. Faull, chairman and president of Swiss-Belhotel International, added: “We are well placed to take advantage of the growing confidence in travel and very excited to continue our global expansion with a strong focus on Central and Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa. These regions hold enormous potential for our brands and are important growth markets for us.”

“Today, we are at 125 hotels and are aiming towards a healthy growth of 250 hotels by 2030,” he said. “Working closely with our owners we have been successfully navigating the unprecedented challenges posed by the pandemic and look forward to driving value to our owners, associates, employees, and guests through our diverse brands.”

Swiss-Belhotel International is looking at other asset management alliances globally to support its expansion and is presently negotiating on more opportunities. Most recently, the group signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Odyssey Group to support its expansion in Japan. The company is also looking to capitalise on new opportunities in priority markets like Thailand and Vietnam where it has multiple hotel projects in advanced negotiations.

Faull noted: “While we are particularly pleased with our progress in Thailand and Vietnam, Southeast Asia as a whole offers tremendous opportunity to expand our footprint further. Our collaboration with the Odyssey Group, which is one of Asia’s leading mid-market private market asset managers providing differentiated and bespoke investment solutions across multiple asset classes, is aimed at bolstering our expansion in Japan. We are also witnessing strong owner interest in our brands across Africa with many promising opportunities in the pipeline that we expect to finalise soon.”

Laurent attributes the new pace of expansion to the way Swiss-Belhotel branded properties maintained highly competitive ranking even during the challenging times of the Covid-19 pandemic. He revealed that the group successfully opened three new properties at the height of the pandemic and made them profitable in record time. “We were not only able to survive the period but delivered the desired results to our owners. With our compelling ‘win-win’ value proposition, we make it easier for owners to work with us.”