US operator ventures into KSA with hotel in Abha

Abha, a city in Saudi Arabia’s Asir region, is poised to welcome its first luxury lifestyle hotel through an upcoming deal with American operator Valor Hospitality.

The company, which has overseen a portfolio of major brand hotels including InterContinental, Marriott, Hilton, Radisson, Wyndham, and Hyatt, also aims to enter secondary and tertiary markets. While major brands concentrate on large-scale developments, Valor intends to cater to the “outer regions.” Speaking to Arab News at the Future Hospitality Summit in Riyadh, Julien Bergue, the co-founder and managing partner of the company, highlighted that Valor has signed a deal to break ground on a “very different” upscale property in Abha, with details to be announced within a month.

Bergue said: “Saudi Arabia is a very specific market. We’re very excited about Saudi Arabia. We’ve been excited about it for five years. We’re watching, we’re learning. We signed our first property in Abha in the Asir region. I’m very proud of it. But we will make it public in about a month’s time; it is the first lifestyle hotel in Abha.” The company’s future plans in the Kingdom also include collaborating with the Ministry of Tourism and the Tourism Investment Fund to “see how we can position better investment throughout the secondary tertiary region.”

This includes rolling out a training academy for young Saudis in the sector, the executive said, with plans to launch within the next year and a half.

By 2030, Valor’s ultimate goal is to manage properties with 6,000 to 7,000 keys under their management.