Mövenpick to manage first hotel in Damascus

Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has announced that it will be managing a 5-star hotel in Damascus.

According to the company, which is owned and managed by the Kingdom Holding Group, property of Saudi billionaire Walid Bin Talal, it has signed a management contract with Syria's Toumeh International Group (TIG) for that purpose.

Management will begin upon commissioning of the hotel, which is expected to take place in 2010.

The Mövenpick Hotel Damascus, as the resort will be called, will be located in the Kafr Souseh area, a recently developed upmarket residential area.

The hotel will be part of a larger commercial mall, which will have a total built-up area of 49,000 square metres and which will cost an estimated SYP1.3bn to build.

The total area of the hotel itself is 11,600 square metres. It will include 268 rooms and suites. Other amenities include a restaurant, lobby lounge, health and beauty centre, and an outdoor swimming pool as well as tennis courts.

A multi-purpose function room for up to 300 persons will be available for banquets and conferences, along with six meeting rooms and a business centre.

The shopping mall will include a shopping area of 6,300 square metres, 560 parking spaces as well as several entertainment facilities.

TIG was awarded the contract to build and develop the Kafer Souseh resort in 2006. The project was among those listed during the first Tourism Investment Conference held in 2005. That year, TIG won another project awarded by the Ministry of Tourism, a $17.5m motels resort located in the area of Jdaidet al-Wadi outside Damascus, the Wadi Motels. Works on this resort, which will include 350 bedrooms, started late 2006.

Mövenpick has sought for several years to enter the Syrian market and was cited among the contenders to take over the management of Le Meridien Damascus Hotel.

TIG is the property of Nabil Toumeh, a local businessman, who is active mainly in trading and contracting.