Palace Resorts Eyes Expansion into Saudi Arabia

Mexican luxury all-inclusive chain Palace Resorts could be headed for Saudi Arabia.

Gibrán Chapur, executive vice-president of Palace Resorts, said that the group’s intention is to invest in the burgeoning destination.

The executive pointed out that Saudi Arabia is a market opening up firmly to tourism. Therefore, they are signing a memorandum of understanding with the Tourism Development Fund to introduce some of their hotels.

Although they have yet to determine how many properties they will open, the executive said that the company is evaluating the destinations they could enter with their different brands.

Sales Records on 2022
Chapur recalled that just a few weeks ago, Palace bought the Italian luxury hotel chain Baglioni Hotels & Resorts due to the expansion of their brands in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. One of their main markets is Saudi Arabia, so it is an exchange for their vacation club memberships for cross-selling travel.

On the other hand, he pointed out that they will close a record year, and although they foresee a complicated outlook for 2023, they are optimistic. “This week, we broke sales records,” he said.

Chapur assured that they have already recovered the numbers they maintained in 2019 and have managed to increase the income per tourist, so if next year they have any drop in occupancy, this will be compensated with the rate.

The executive indicated that although occupancy could drop by 10 percent due to the global opening, rates could rise to 20 percent so that they will continue with positive numbers.

As for new projects, he pointed out that they are building their largest project with 2,171 rooms in Punta Cana. They are starting to develop Ciudad Palace, a complex that will be behind the hotel to provide service to their collaborators, which will include 2,000 apartments for them to live with their families, which will also include schools and other necessary services.