AccorHotels to open ibis Styles hotel in 2020
New hotel will be located in Oman’s largest and only dedicated meeting, conference, incentive and exhibition destination, OCEC
AccorHotels has signed a management agreement with master developer Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran). The deal will see the first ‘ibis Styles’ hotel open in the sultanate.
The hotel will be located within the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC) master development in Madinat Al Irfan. The 280-room project is set to open in 2020 and will be the first internationally branded hotel within the OCEC development.
“As one of our most dynamic economy brands within our global portfolio, I am excited to announce that ibis Styles Muscat will be the first of its kind in Oman. What makes this so remarkable and relevant is that ibis Styles Muscat will be a perfect complement to the new state-of-the-art Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC), with its value positioning, eclectic design and genuine hospitality, which will appeal to a wide range of clientele and will further widen the Mice market in this destination. He further added: “Our new partnership with Omran will also allow us to further explore growth opportunities and to contribute towards the development of the travel and tourism sector in the country,” said, Olivier Granet, CEO of AccorHotels Middle East and Africa.
AccorHotels says it currently has eight properties under operation and in the pipeline in Oman. Additionally, the hotel operator says its network of operational and in-pipeline projects in the Middle East and Africa is over 300 hotels, which will add a collective total of 80,000 rooms to 30 countries.
Peter Walichnowski, CEO of Omran added, “This partnership with AccorHotels to introduce ibis Styles to Oman remains in line with our wider strategy to grow and fully develop the tourism and travel sector in the country. The Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre is positioning Muscat as a leading business tourism destination in the Middle East, opening the doors to travellers who have not had Muscat on their destination list before. This will contribute to Oman’s overall economic growth through increased visitor spend and new job opportunities.”
Across the Middle East and Africa, there are currently 15 ibis Styles hotels in operation, the most recent being the ibis Styles Manama Diplomatic Area in Bahrain and the ibis Styles Makkah in Saudi Arabia.
