Olivier Chavy, President and CEO, Movenpick Hotels & Resorts.
Swiss hospitality firm finished 2016 with more than 13 new properties signed, boosting its development pipeline to 33 hotels across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
BAAR, SWITZERLAND – 2016 was a momentous year for Movenpick Hotels & Resorts, marked by the appointment of its new CEO, Olivier Chavy, which made global headlines. This ushered in a new era for the hospitality firm, which also unveiled a fresh new logo and corporate identity to better reflect its warmth and inherent ‘Swissness’.
The Switzerland-based global hospitality firm also fast-tracked its global expansion plans in 2016, signing a record number of management contracts for new properties across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
Movenpick Hotels & Resorts, which already operates 83 hotels worldwide, inked deals for more than 13 new properties in key growth markets, growing its total development pipeline by one-third to 33-plus hotels. This will add more than 9,000 extra keys to Movenpick Hotels & Resorts’ growing inventory over the next four years, with all pipelined properties currently on track to open by the end of 2020.
New deals signed in 2016 will see the company debut in several locations across the Middle East and Asia including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and, in the UAE, the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.
“2016 was our most successful year yet in terms of the number of new hotels we signed, which averaged more than one a month and grew our pipelined portfolio by more than 30 per cent,” said Olivier Chavy, President and CEO, Movenpick Hotels & Resorts.
“We not only consolidated our position in key growth markets such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand, where we are now a dominant player, but signed management agreements for properties in strategic locations where we will introduce the Movenpick brand for the first time, in some cases, setting new hospitality standards that we believe will become an industry benchmark. “We enter 2017 in high confidence, building on our achievements over the past 12 months with firm plans to further grow our portfolio in line with our ambitious global expansion strategy. We’re well on track to operating over 100 properties by 2020.”
The regional breakdown
In Asia, where Movenpick Hotels & Resorts currently operates 11 properties with 20 more in the pipeline, the company signed five new properties, three of which were in Thailand – Movenpick Residences Ekkamai Bangkok (2017), Movenpick Resort Khao Yai (2017) and Movenpick Resort Mai Khao (2018).
The company also signed deals for Movenpick Hotel Khulna, its first property in Bangladesh, and Movenpick Hotel Quang Binh in Vietnam, both of which are scheduled to open in 2020.
At the same time, the 260-room Movenpick Siam Hotel Pattaya on popular Na Jomtien Beach opened for business – the first five-star property outside of Pattaya’s city centre.
In the Middle East, currently home to 31 Movenpick Hotels & Resorts properties with twelve more in the development pipeline, four new management agreements were signed. They included the newly opened Movenpick Hotel Al Aziziyah Doha, in Qatar, plus Movenpick Hotel Apartments Al Burj Business Bay, Dubai, UAE and Movenpick Hotel & Apartments Al Tahlia, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which are both set to open in 2018. The 550-room Movenpick Resort Al Marjan Island, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, has a mooted 2019 opening date.
2016 also saw the opening of the 228-room Movenpick Hotel City Star Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – a unique European-style hotel which is Movenpick’s third property in the Kingdom’s city.
In Africa, where the firm has 25 properties and four more in active development, the company opened a landmark property, the Movenpick Hotel Mansour Eddahbi Marrakech, with 503 rooms and Morocco’s largest congress centre. It is the firm’s third property in Morocco, with the two others located in Casablanca and Tangier. Deals have also been signed for properties in Tunisia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Cote d’Ivoire.
In Europe, the company currently operates 21 properties and plans to open the 262-key Movenpick Congress Hotel Stuttgart, Germany and the 260-key Movenpick Hotel Basel, Switzerland in 2019.
Green Globe
In 2016, Movenpick Hotels & Resorts made history as the most ‘Green Globe certified hotel company in the world’. The certification body’s 2015 report revealed the Swiss hospitality firm had an overall average compliance score of 84 per cent, an impressive 2.5 per cent higher than the average of all Green Globe certified members worldwide (81.5 per cent).
At the end of 2016, more than 63 of the company’s properties were Green Globe certified and more than half of those (35), had achieved the prestigious Green Globe Gold Member status, with more currently working towards this standard.
Awards
2016 also saw a long list of properties recognised by renowned programmes such as the World Travel Awards, Haute Grandeur Awards and Conde Nast Traveler Awards.
At the World Travel Awards, Movenpick Resort & Spa Dead Sea was named ‘Best Luxury Resort Spa 2016’; Movenpick Hotel Jumeirah Beach was crowned ‘Best Luxury Contemporary/Stylish Hotel 2016’; and Movenpick Hotel Hanoi received the ‘Best Boutique Hotel in South East Asia 2016’ accolade. In Europe, Movenpick Hotel Amsterdam City Center was ranked 9th in Conde Nast Traveler’s ‘Top 10 Best Hotels of Amsterdam’ listing and Movenpick Hotel Istanbul was named one of US News & World Reports’ ‘Best Hotels in Europe’ 2016-2017.
2017 development plans
In 2017, nine properties are on schedule to open across Asia and Africa. The company will mark its debut in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Kenya with the openings of Movenpick Resort & Spa Jimbaran Bali, Movenpick Hotel Colombo and Movenpick Hotel & Residences Nairobi.
The remaining four new properties on track to open this year are: Movenpick Hotel Les Berges Du Lac Tunis in Tunisia, Movenpick Resort & Spa Boracay in the Philippines and in Thailand, Movenpick Residences Ekkamai Bangkok and Movenpick Resort Khao Yai.
“We start the year as we mean to go on, forging ahead with our ambitious development plans, building on our sustainability successes, and bringing our award-winning Swiss hospitality to new locations across the globe,” concluded Chavy.
2016 Awards
Movenpick Hotels & Resorts achieved several accolades in 2016, with properties in every region recognised by several prestigious awards programmes. They included:
Middle East
Movenpick Hotel West Bay Doha
- World Travel Awards – Qatar’s Leading City Hotel 2016
- Haute Grandeur Awards – Best City Hotel in Qatar 2016
- World Luxury Hotel Awards – Luxury City Hotel 2016
Movenpick Resort & Spa Dead Sea
- World Travel Awards for Best Luxury Resort Spa 2016
- The 2016 Seven Stars Luxury Hospitality and Lifestyle Award
Movenpick Resort & Spa Tala Bay
- World Travel Awards – Jordan's Leading Resort (three-peat winner 2014 – 2016)
- Luxury Travel Guide – Jordan's Luxury Contemporary Resort (two-time winner 2015 – 2016)
- Conde Nast Johansen's Recommendation for Zara Spa Tala Bay
- Finalist for Conde Nast Johansen's Awards for Excellence under the category Best for Couple (Zara Spa Tala Bay)
- Blue Flag, Green Key and ISO 22000 re-certifications
Movenpick Hotel Beirut
- Best Leading Resort in Lebanon, World Travel Awards 2016
Movenpick Hotel Jumeirah Beach
- Best Honeymoon Hotel 2016’ at the Haute Grandeur Global Hotel Awards
- Best Luxury Contemporary/Stylish Hotel 2016’ at the World Luxury Hotel Awards
Movenpick Hotel Jeddah
- Received the distinction as ‘Best Business Hotel in the Middle East’ at the Haute Grandeur Global Hotel Awards
Movenpick Hotel Al Khobar
- Took home the award for ‘Best Family Hotel in Saudi Arabia’ at the Haute Grandeur Global Hotel Awards
Asia
Movenpick Hotel Hanoi
- World Luxury Hotel Awards: ‘Best Boutique Hotel in South East Asia 2016’
Movenpick Hotel Mactan Island Cebu
- 2016 – Ibiza Beach Club – Best Restaurants, The Philippine Tatler
- 2016 – Ibiza Beach Club – Best of Cebu (Best outdoor dining venue) Sunstar Cebu
Europe
Movenpick Hotel Amsterdam City Center
- Conde Nast Traveller’s ‘Best in the World’: Top 10 Best Hotels of Amsterdam (ranked 9th)
Movenpick Hotel Ankara
- World Luxury Spa Awards: ‘Best Boutique Spa’ 2016-12-21
Movenpick Hotel Istanbul
- US News & World Reports’ ‘Best Hotels in Europe’ 2016-2017
Angelos is the news editor for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). His role includes to monitor the hundrends of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skim the most important according to our strategy.
He currently studies Communication, Media & Culture in Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens.
