Rezidor, part of the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, is eying the nascent Iranian market and the possibility of expanding its business into Iran, according to a top company executive.
“The biggest opportunity lies in Iran. We are waiting for the sanctions to be officially lifted so we have a chance to go in and expand our business with local partners,” Elie Younes, executive vice president and chief development officer of the Rezidor Hotel Group, told Gulf News.
In January, nuclear-related sanctions against Iran were lifted. However, other sanctions remain.
International hotel groups have wasted little time to enter the Iranian market following the signing of the historic nuclear deal last year between Tehran and the six major world powers.
French Group AccorHotels opened two hotels—Ibis and Novotel—last October near Imam Khomeini International Airport to become the first foreign-branded hotel to set up shop in Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In March, Spain’s Melia Hotels International announced that it plans to open a five-star property called Gran Melia Ghoo in a 130-meter tower in Salmanshahr, Mazandaran Province, along the Caspian Sea as early as 2017, which make it Iran’s first foreign-branded seaside hotel in nearly 40 years. Turkish and German firms have also agreed to build a combined 20 hotels in the next 10 years in Iran, while the UAE-based Rotana is building hotels in Tehran and Mashhad slated for completion in 2018.
