Millennium Hotels & Resorts MEA revealed development plans for Saudi Arabia with a goal of operating 25 hotels kingdom-wide by 2025.

The group, which currently operates nine hotels across Riyadh, Makkah, Madinah and Hail and has seven hotels under development in Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah, Jizan and Tabouk, is targeting strategic locations in every region across the country as it maps out its blueprint for growth over the next five years.

“Most hotel chains target the primary cities of Riyadh, Jeddah, Madinah and Makkah for expansion, but having operated in Saudi Arabia for five years, we have identified opportunities beyond these markets, in line with Vision 2030 and the phenomenal growth of the country’s tourism and hospitality industry,” said Kevork Deldelian, who was recently promoted to Chief Executive Officer, Millennium Hotels and Resorts MEA.

“The recent introduction of tourist visas has sparked huge interest from travelers keen to explore this fascinating destination and we are committed to play a key role in meeting this demand by providing supply in high-growth potential locations that include secondary cities and new tourism hotspots.”

He added: “Millennium Hotels and Resorts is one of the world’s largest owner-operators and we believe our unique expertise will help hotel owners in Saudi Arabia maximize the value of their assets, create bespoke properties and deliver a modern guest experience.”

With Saudization a focal point of its talent acquisition and development plans, Millennium Hotels and Resorts MEA is also expanding its TooMooH program, which trains and develops Saudi Nationals to become hospitality industry leaders of the future.

This is supported by a robust Human Resources strategy, with the company aiming to double its current number of employees in Saudi Arabia to fulfill its development ambitions for the kingdom over the next five years.

Millennium Hotels and Resorts has operated in the Middle East since 2002. Most recently, global benchmarking specialist STR ranked the brand number one out of 16 global hotel brands for both Middle East supply (with 11,186 rooms in operation) and pipeline (with 7,251 rooms under construction).