Tag Archives: Middle East & Africa

Marriott Hotels has launched its TestBED programme in the Middle East & Africa. First launched by Marriott Hotels across Europe in 2016, the unique 10-week accelerator programme gives start-ups the opportunity to test their products within an operating Marriott Hotel in a major city. The programme is open to seed and early stage start-ups with products or services that are ready to pilot in a live hotel environment. It offers them an invaluable opportunity to gain worthwhile feedback from guests and associates to help further develop and perfect their product. Participating start-ups are hand-picked in an effort to uncover those that can revolutionise a guest’s stay, reinventing the hotel experience throughout the region. Those selected will also be offered mentoring and global exposure. While the start-ups are not required to relocate for the duration of the programme, they may need to travel since the majority of this period will be spent in action within a Marriott Hotel. This will be the first year that the initiative is available in the region, and the programme will begin its roll-out in the United Arab Emirates.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG®), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, announced signing of Holiday Inn® Dubai Science Park.The newly built hotel will operate under a management agreement with an affiliate of the Rolaco Group, who also own InterContinental® Dallas, InterContinental® Semiramis, InterContinental®Geneva, Crowne Plaza® Geneva, and Crowne Plaza® Zurich. Holiday Inn Dubai Science Park will comprise of 402 rooms and suites, including five meeting rooms and a conference hall seating 600 guests. Pascal Gauvin, Chief Operating Officer, India, Middle East & Africa, IHG, said: “We are delighted to be strengthening our global partnership with the Rolaco Group through the signing of their first Holiday Inn property in Dubai. The signing reinforces our current footprint in the UAE, which includes 19 hotels open and another 11 hotels in our pipeline. The UAE is home to our second largest portfolio of hotels in the Middle East and we continue to expand our portfolio in the region.”