Jeddah - 10 June 2019:  Accor Makkah have successfully launched “Accor Holy Destinations” Umbrella - the first of its kind in the Saudi hospitality sector. Holy destination is an alliance between all AccorHotels in Makkah (8 hotels) and Madinah (3 hotels).

The announcement was made in the presence of Managing Director Alaaeldin Saleh and executive directors of the group. The group participated in the Saudi pavilion of the National Authority for Tourism and National Heritage during the prestigious 26th Arab Travel Market 2019, for conferences and exhibitions, held from 28th April to 1st May.

The new holy destination is considered to be an Umbrella under which all of the AccorHotels Makkah and Madinah are unified with total 10,617 rooms, including residential units, suites, hotel apartments, royal floors, and villas. This has given AccorHotels Makkah a competitive advantage in the Saudi hospitality sector for its market share of 52% of the luxurious rooms and hotel apartments. 

The new Umbrella, “Accor Holy Destinations” aims at unifying the booking process for travel companies when booking for Hajj and Umrah, organizations and individuals alike across all AccorHotels in Makkah and Madinah. Alaaeldin Saleh, the Managing Director of FRS Makkah, pointed out that the Umbrella will have a digital platform for booking, information on Makkah and Madinah, a full-fledged map of the area, nearby shops, and a 360-degree video of Al Haram. 

The first phase of the platform has already been launched which contains comprehensive information about AccorHotels in Makkah. The second and the third phase are now underway and is set to allow the visitors of the online platform to access the information about pilgrims or Hajj and umrah to comfortably perform their soul cleansing journey. The fourth phase will focus on providing information about Al Madinah Al Munawarh and AccorHotels in Madinah.

Mr. Saleh further stressed that people seeking pilgrimage and umrah in the Holy city will benefit from the online platform significantly as it will serve them during their spiritual journey. “We hope that the new umbrella will facilitate many processes related to their travel and accommodation so that visitors of the holy mosques can travel comfortably. Additionally, we trust that this will contribute to the development of the field and achieve the desired objectives of the target audience from outside and inside the Kingdom,” he added.

The group of hotels encompasses 8 hotels in Makkah namely, Makkah Clock Royal Tower, a Fairmont Hotel, Swissôtel Al Maqam, Raffles Makkah Palace, Ibis Styles, Swissôtel Makkah, Pullman Zamzam and Mövenpick Hajar, overlooking the Grand Mosque. Additionally, Mercure Hibatullah Hotel. 

 On the other hand, in Madinah, the group operates Pullman Zamzam Madinah, Anwar al Madinah Mövenpick Hotel and Mövenpick Madinah

STR, a research entity focused on Hotel research, said that Makkah is ranked second in the world's largest number of hotel rooms with more than 23,000 units. Moreover, the Kingdom is one of the largest hotel markets in the region with a compound annual growth rate of 13.5% by 2022.

Global Event

Perhaps the most notable aspect of AccorHotels Makkah’s participation in the 26th edition of Arabian Travel Markets 2019 is that for the first time all the AccorHotels Makkah are participating under one name as “AccorHotels Makkah and Madinah” instead of individual participation.

AccorHotels Makkah and Madinah participation comes as lucrative opportunity to further develop its partnerships, networking, and capitalizing on the location of the hotels being in the two holy cities. The 2019 Arabian Travel Market is a leading global event in the travel industry in the Middle East. Its role is to assist participants in forging excellent relationships, enhancing their communication, enabling them to know market conditions, identifying new partners, and bringing in new projects.

Yearly, the ATM witnesses the signing of more than $2.5 billion worth of agreements and sheds light on more than 2800 products and services and tourism destination from all over the world for 28,000 participants. The event hosted 39,000 visitors working as travel professionals, government officials, International media in order to communicate and discover the latest trends in the sector.