RIU Hotels and Nakheel Formalize Joint Venture

RIU Hotels & Resorts and Dubai master developer Nakheel have formally signed their business partnership agreement. Ali Rashid Lootah, Chairman of one of the Middle East's biggest developers, travelled to Mallorca to sign the joint venture agreement with Luis Riu, CEO of RIU Hotels.

Thanks to this partnership, the chain's first hotel in Dubai will become a reality in 2019. Thus RIU becomes the first international hotel chain, and the only Spanish one, to sign an agreement with Nakheel. In its strategy of expansion into the hospitality business, Nakheel is planning 10 hotels across Dubai. The first opened earlier this month, and six more have been announced or signed.

The planned RIU hotel will be located at Nakheel's Deira Islands master development, and will be unique at the destination as, with 750 rooms, it will be the largest built there to date, as well as the first to offer 24-Hour All Inclusive service. Deira Islands is one of Nakheel's large-scale coastal projects in Dubai and it will feature, in addition to hotels, the Deira Mall retail and entertainment complex, the Deira Islands Night Market with 5,300 shops, a marina and an amphitheatre seating 30,000 people.

Luis Riu, CEO of RIU Hotels & Resorts, said that "the formal signing of this partnership represents another step towards making the first RIU project in the Middle East a reality. We're proud to have a partner with the experience and prestige of Nakheel for undertaking this ambitious project. Dubai is one of the great new centres of international tourism as it represents a strategic enclave on the route between Europe and Asia".

For his part, Nakheel Chairman Ali Rashid Lootah stated that "under this new partnership, Nakheel will proudly introduce one of the world's biggest, most respected names in hospitality and an entirely new concept in hotel accommodation to Dubai. This is a major milestone for our growing hospitality business and a significant step towards creating a new range of affordable, family resort-style hotel accommodation in the Emirate, in line with the government of Dubai's tourism vision for 2021."

Nakheel is known worldwide for delivering large-scale, landmark engineering projects including the globally-iconic Palm Jumeirah and The World. Deira Islands will add 40 km, including 21 km of beachfront, to Dubai's coastline.

About Nakheel

Nakheel is one of the world's largest real estate developers. Driven by the desire to become an influential part of realising Dubai's vision for the 21st century − creating a world-class destination for living, business and tourism, Nakheel has built up an iconic portfolio of innovative landmark projects. With a host of world-renowned projects that span a range of sectors – residential, commercial, retail and leisure, Nakheel developments form an integral part of Dubai's landscape, creating a legacy built on thought leadership and pioneering innovation that will inspire generations to come.

About RIU Hotels & Resorts

The international RIU chain was founded in Mallorca by the Riu family in 1953 as a small holiday firm and is still owned by the family's third generation. The company specialises in holiday resorts and over 78% of its establishments offer its acclaimed All Inclusive by RIU service. With the inauguration of its first city hotel in 2010, RIU is expanding its range of products with its own line of city hotels called Riu Plaza. RIU Hotels & Resorts now has 97 hotels in 21 countries. In 2023, the chain welcomed 6,4 million guests and provided jobs for a total of 35,808 employees. RIU is currently the world's 36th ranked chain, one of the Caribbean's most popular, and the fourth largest in Spain in number of rooms.

For further information please visit: www.riu.com.