The Saudi Kingdom Holding Company had recently invested one million dollars in the Arabian Hotels Company (AHC) in Ramallah, revealed the company’s chairman of the board, Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal Bin Abdul Aziz.
Overall costs of the five-star hotel, currently under construction, are estimated to reach $20 million, according to Al-Watan daily. The personal investment by the Prince comes in the wake of a call by the Palestinian leader, Yassir Arafat, to increase investments in infrastructure projects of the Palestinian Authority.
Swiss group Movenpick Hotels AG, in which Prince Walid has a 27 percent share, will operate the hotel. The eight-story hotel complex, to be named the Movenpick Ramallah, will include 187 rooms, banquet halls, a business club, a swimming pool and various restaurants. It is scheduled to open at the end of 2001, and will be located on a plot adjacent to the Palestinian Authority legislative building.
Movenpick, the first international chain to operate in the Palestinian Authority on a major scale, will also open two other hotels in Bethlehem and Gaza. The hotel company recently acquired properties in Egypt and Lebanon as well. ― (MENA Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
