HMH – Hospitality Management HoldingsFirms Up Presence in Sudan

With two new hotels due to open this year, HMH – Hospitality Management Holdings announced its firm commitment to consolidating its presence in Sudan. Addressing an exclusive press conference in Khartoum, Laurent A. Voivenel, CEO, HMH, said, "Sudan is part of our 'Go Africa' strategy.With three hotels in operation and two under development we are strongly positioned in Sudan and well-placed to contribute to the growth of the local hospitality and tourism industry. We have got a strong portfolio of brands and are in intensive discussions with Sudanese Kuwaiti Hotels Company to consolidate and build on our strategic cooperation".

HMH has deepened its presence in North Sudan since it took over the management of Coral Khartoum Hotel in 2009. The group has quite rapidly expanded its footprint in the country with five hotels in a relatively short span of time. Opening this year will be EWA Port Sudan Hotel & Apartments and EWA Khartoum Hotel & Apartments.

HMH has introduced several new initiatives this year including the brand revitalization of Coral Hotels & Resorts and extensive technology upgrade including new e-commerce friendly, multi-lingual websites. Laurent stressed, "It is good to freshen up. These initiatives highlight how we are responding to the demands of our customers while growing our business. To be ahead of the completion requires a major and consistent effort to understand and anticipate, not only the needs of the time, but the future. The desired objective of upgrading or installing the latest technology is to ultimately make the whole system more efficient, flexible and agile offering greater convenience and value to guests".

He added, "The brand overhaul was driven by an acknowledgement that, given the highly digital environment today, guests want to be simply more engaged. Therefore, it was both necessary from a technological standpoint as well as a tremendous opportunity to leverage Coral Hotels & Resorts for competitive advantage. Being our flagship property, Coral Khartoum Hotel will serve as a pilot hotel in Sudan to launch the new Coral look."

Dr. Abo Bakr Mohammed Abo Bakr, General Manager, Sudanese Kuwaiti Hotels Company, said, "Sudan has tremendous potential to be developed as a tourism destination but there is a lot of catching up to do. Once known as the bread basket of the Arab world, Sudan is the third largest yet one of the least visited countries in Africa despite rich history, diverse culture and incredible scenic beauty.There are many ancient pyramids all over Sudan, attracting many tourists from the region and abroad. Sadly, much of the country's natural and architectural treasures have remained hidden from the world's tourism industry. The travel and tourism infrastructure in Sudan needs to be developed. There is a shortage of hotels, particularly outside the capital Khartoum, with many key tourist attractions completely lacking suitable accommodation. HMH – Hospitality Management Holdings is among the few reputable hospitality groups present in the country and has been playing an instrumental role in the development of the industry. There are many fabulous opportunities under consideration and we look forward to an exciting future together".

The government of Sudan has pledged $1 billion a year to boost the country's tourism industry.Air transportation in Sudan has grown tremendously over the recent years. Flights to and from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are increasing largely due to the expansion of low-cost carriers in the region. Benefiting from the growing number of flight connections, inbound and outbound tourism to and from the Middle East is growing too. According to a report issued by Ministry of Tourism and Wild Life 591,350 tourists visited Sudan in 2013 spending $735,501 million. The world's first known civilization Karma Civilization is located in Sudan as also the Meroe Civilization. In terms of wildlife, Sudan is rated among the world's top ten countries.

About HMH

Founded in 2003 in Dubai, HMH – Hospitality Management Holding is a fully integrated hotel management company that prides itself for being the largest operator in the dry sector within the region. HMH provides hotel owners and developers a broad spectrum of world-class management solutions with five distinct, yet complementary, hotel brands catering to varied market segments from luxury to lifestyle. These include Bahi Hotels & Resorts, Coral Hotels & Resorts, Corp Hotels, EWA Hotel Apartments and ECOS Hotels. HMH's strategic expansion in the Middle East and North Africa has been successful in unlocking a world of opportunities while creating value for its stakeholders, associates, staff members and customers. The existing portfolio is located in some of the most desirable destinations across the MENA region, with a pipeline of hotels under development to grow HMH's regional footprint even further.

For more information about HMH please visit http://www.hmhhotelgroup.com/.

Hina Bakht
MPJ (Marketing Pro-Junction)
+971 50 6975146
HMH