Dubai-based Al Khoory to open Al Quoz’s first two hotels

Vice chairman Abdullah Mohamed Tayeb Khoory says that he still believes there is room for Sharia-compliant hotels to expand in Dubai

Al Khoory Hotels, the hospitality-arm of conglomerate Al Khoory Group, plans to bring hotels to Dubai’s Al Quoz for the first time with the opening of two hotels in the area, according to Al Khoory Hotels vice chairman Abdullah Mohamed Tayeb Khoory.

The company currently owns and operates four hotels in Dubai with a total of 650 keys.

The two Al Quoz hotels, three-star, 92-key Urban By Al Khoory and the four-star, 158-key Al Khoory Courtyard, are slated for completion in the second half of the year.

A third Dubai property, the approximately 258-key Al Khoory Sky Garden, will be located near Dubai International Airport and is expected to open in mid-2020 ahead of Dubai Expo 2020.

“We will also open new hotels in Muscat and in Sohar [in Oman],” Khoory added. “But that’s still further on.”

View of the Burj Khalifa

Speaking to Arabian Business, Khoory said the company sees “a lot of potential” in Dubai’s Al Quoz, which currently does not have any hotels.

“I think it’s a good place. There are no hotels nearby and it’s very near to everywhere, such as Burj Khalifa and the projects were are coming up,” he said. “We will be the first. People will be able to stay in a room and have a view of the Burj Khalifa.”

Khoory added that the group believes there is still room for Sharia-compliant hotels in Dubai, which adhere to principles such as offering halal F&B options and banning cigarettes.

“We have our own culture in this part of the world and we observed there was a need for such hotels from tourists who are coming from nearby countries,” he said. “There was a shortage. When we started five years’ back, there were only a few hotels in this segment.”

Occupancy

Additionally, Khoory said he is unconcerned by what he sees as a lack of occupancy in many Dubai hotels.

“We don’t have such a problem, but maybe this problem is there in five-star hotels, which we are not touching,” he said. “Generally, our occupancy is not bad.”

According to the hotel chain, occupancy rates in the first three-months of the year have hovered at approximately 88 percent.

“Expo 2020 will also be a good push to our business and to the whole economy of the city, not only hospitality,” Khoory added. “We think we’ll be ready for this.”