Rikaz Properties in new hotel deal

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has signed a management agreement with real estate company Rikaz Properties to develop its fourth Holiday Inn hotel in Al Khobar.

The group had signed two Holiday Inn properties in Madinah and Jeddah earlier this year.

Expected to open in January 2021, the 140-key Holiday Inn Al Khobar King Fahd Road will feature an outdoor pool, a lobby lounge, food and beverage outlets and a state-of-the-art gymnasium.

Pascal Gauvin, managing director, India, Middle East & Africa, IHG said: “With a number of recent signings in Saudi Arabia across our brands such as Holiday Inn, voco and Crowne Plaza, we are growing our presence in key cities and gearing up to cater to the needs of diverse guest profiles expected to visit the country in the coming years.”

Alhokair unit to build Egypt mall

Marakez for Real Estate Investment, a unit of Saudi group Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair, is set to develop a new shopping mall in Salam City on the Cairo-Ismailia road outside the Egyptian capital at an investment of E250 million ($15 million), said a report. The mall will feature both open-air areas and retail stores, reported Al Shorouk, citing a senior company official.

Marakez, which boasts a portfolio of residential, commercial, entertainment and retail projects, is also looking to acquire land in Assiut to bring more of its shopping malls outside Cairo, said its chief business development officer Ashraf Farid.

Marakez will pump in more than E£15 billion ($916 million) into its flagship project – Mall of Arabia in 6 October – for further expansion, he added.

Fire safety market to grow by 5.6pc

The fire safety equipment and systems market in Saudi Arabia will witness a growth of 5.6 per cent during the next five years, according to an industrial report discussed during the Saudi International Oil Fire Safety Conference (OFSAC) 2019, held last month at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Riyadh.

The report also revealed that oil fire incidents will fall by 11 per cent due to the investment of $4.5 billion in oil fire training, engineering, technology and production of materials to control oil fire risks.

High Commission for Industrial Security (HCIS) secretary general Brigadier General Mohammed bin Ali Al Habdan said that Saudi Arabia operates according to international standards to reduce oil fires and is considered to have one of the best statistics in the Middle East and among Opec countries.