Qatar-based hotels company Katara Hospitality is aiming to
more than double its portfolio of properties from 24 to 60 hotels by 2030.
The chairman of the newly-rebranded firm, formerly known as
Qatar National Hotels Company, said that Katara will open six new hotels before
2016, including its flagship Lusail Marina Hotel in the Qatari capital Doha.
“We are looking at 220 countries,” HE Sheikh Nawaf bin
Jassim bin Jabor Al-Thani said at today’s Arabian Travel Market (ATM)
conference in Dubai. “You will see us spreading rapidly in the near future.”
When quizzed on how Katara would fund its growth strategy,
Al Thani said the business was “cash rich” and initially planned to use its own
capital.
A key part of Katara’s expansion will see the company open
properties in Europe over the coming years.
The company says it will open
three new hotels in 2013: the Royal Savoy Lausanne; the Gallia Hotel Milan; The
Peninsula Hotel Paris, as well as a second Parisian location with a five-star
hotel.
In 2014, it will open the Bürgenstock Resort Lake Lucerne in
Switzerland, Tazi Palace in Tangier, Morroco – currently undergoing a
multi-million dollar refurbishment – and a new-build project, the Comoros Beach
Resort located in the Union of Comoros.
Earlier this year, Katara
took over the ownership of two iconic Raffles properties in Singapore and Paris.
* Additional reporting by Louise Oakley
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