Hotel101 Global to develop 10,000 rooms in Saudi Arabia
Hotel101 Global Pte. Ltd., the Singapore-headquartered subsidiary of DoubleDragon Corp., has partnered with the Horizon Group to develop up to 10,000 rooms in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, expected to translate to a $2.5-billion or P137.5-billion project value.
Under the partnership, the two parties have identified an initial five locations, with the first being in Medina, followed by Riyadh, Jeddah, Abha, and Alula, with an average of 500 rooms per site.
This comes as Hotel101 adopted a global "one room" hotel chain, offering identical, standardized hotel rooms. It also has an asset-light "condotel" business model, designed to scale efficiently while maximizing value for unit owners and guests.
"We see tremendous opportunities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia given the high growth in tourism both domestic and international. We believe Saudi Arabia will be one of the most exciting markets for Hotel101 globally," Hotel101 chief executive officer Hannah Yulo-Luccini said in an emailed statement.
"With Hotel101's rapid-build model and Horizon's local know-how, we will add 10,000 quality, affordable rooms across the Kingdom—supporting Vision 2030, creating Saudi jobs, and expanding options for pilgrims, tourists, and business travelers alike," Horizon Group chief executive officer Abdulrahman Sharbatly said.
Saudi Arabia targets to reach 150 million tourists by 2030, after welcoming 27 million international tourists and 79 million domestic tourists in 2030, reaching a 100-million visitor mark.
"We are inspired by the leaders of Saudi Arabia and their sheer determination and will power to make things happen, as such, we are confident in the plans they have laid out for the region and we believe the Hotel101 concept will be able to make a significant contribution in terms of room keys to complement the 2030 Vision for the Kingdom, and to form part of our global vision of 1 million Hotel 101 rooms worldwide," Hotel101 Global founder Edgar "Injap" Sia II said.
Hotel101 officially filed its F-4 Registration Statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on February 1 (Philippine time), taking a key step toward its $2.3-billion Nasdaq listing.
The firm entered a definitive merger agreement with JVSPAC Acquisition Corp. in April 2024, positioning DoubleDragon to become the first Filipino company with a subsidiary listed on Nasdaq.
Hotel101's first three overseas projects are located in Niseko Hokkaido, Japan; Madrid, Spain; and Los Angeles, California, in the United States, which are set to jumpstart its expansion to other areas as it targets to accumulate a portfolio of 1 million rooms in 101 countries before 2050.
It also seeks to expand in areas such as the United Kingdom (UK), the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mexico, South Korea, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Turkey, Italy, Germany, France, and China. — VDV, GMA Integrated News
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