Beirut (APD) - In a sign of Saudi Arabia's robust religious tourism economy, three hotels in the holy city of Medina were sold for around SR 1 billion, the Riyadh-based al Iqtisadiya reported Friday.
Saudi-based al Kaaki Group acquired Dar Al Taqwa InterContinental Hotel in Medina at SR 450 million and said it might change the hotel's name to Four Seasons.
The 13 floors five-star hotel, which is located in the city center near to the Prophet's Mosque, includes 194 rooms and achieves annual revenues of SR 40 million, the paper wrote.
Dar Al Taqwa is one of three hotels in Medina managed by the InterContinental Hotels Group. It mostly caters to visitors of the holy places.
The second hotel was purchased at around SR 250 million and is called Al Haram Plaza Hotel. It is a five-star hotel with a builtup area of 4000 square meters.
The third hotel was sold at SR 300 million but no further details were given by the newspaper.
A noteworthy residential real estate project to open this year in Medina is the Taiba Eastern Tower, giving Muslims from outside of Saudi Arabia the first chance to buy permanent homes in Medina overlooking the Prophet's Mosque.
Clients can purchase an automatically renewable 99-year lease to an apartment at the 20-floor tower, which contractually becomes a freehold property when Saudi law changes to allow non-Saudi Muslims to own property in the city.
Medina will also host another new international brand hotel called the Al Medina Paradise Radisson SAS Resort. The resort, which is due to open in mid 2007, will be located seven kilometers from the Prophet's Mosque and will feature 212 guestrooms as well as 10 villas.
The residential real estate and hospitality sectors in Medina are expected to continue their high rate of growth based on the increasing influx of pilgrims who come each year to visit the Prophet's Mosque in Islam's second most holy city.
To this year's Hajj, Saudi Arabia admitted more than 2 million international and domestic pilgrims. [TS]
By Nadim Issa, APD Staff Writer in Beirut
APD (Arab Press Digest) 2006
