JEDDAH: Accor, the European leader and one of the world's largest groups in the hotel industry, and Al Mohammadia Almotahda for Real Estate Investment Company, have announced the signing of a management contract to develop an ibis hotel in Riyadh. Christophe Landais, Managing Director, Accor Middle East, said: "We are proud to mark our first stride with ibis into KSA's promising travel and tourism market and partner with Al Mohamadia Almotahda." Accor, being one of the leading players in the region for mid-scale and economy hotels, is delighted to introduce the first internationally branded economy hotel in the Kingdom. “This day holds great significance for Accor as it reinforces our leadership in the economy segment and allows us to expand Accor's network of value-for-money high quality products and services," he said. ibis is the worldwide economy hotel brand of the Accor group and is designed to meet the needs and expectations of a broad spectrum of customers who travel regularly on business or leisure. With round-the-clock service and budget prices, ibis has over 879 hotels worldwide which are always conveniently located in business districts, tourist spots and near airports. Landais further said ibis Riyadh will join Accor's rapidly expanding ibis hotels network. "Currently we have nine operational ibis hotels in the Middle East (five in the UAE, two in Kuwait, one in Jordan and one in Oman). Our ibis brand leads in the economy hotel market with a foothold since its introduction to the Dubai market in 2003. Highly resilient, ibis remains one of the best performing brands in our portfolio and we aim to replicate its success in the Saudi market." Khalid Al Turki, Executive Manager, Al Mohammadia Almotahda, said: "We are thrilled to partner with Accor for this project. ibis is one of the most recognized and respected brands in the economy lodging segment in the hotel industry. With Accor rapidly expanding in the Middle East, we are delighted to have signed this project with Accor and look forward to further developing our partnership in the future, by delivering together top-quality, value-for-money accommodation in our developments."
