Marriott International is planning to operate the 700-room JW Marriott Hotel Dhaka.

The luxury hotel, which will be built by Jamuna Group, will be part of a mixed-use development that will also include retail and office components, and construction of the hotel is already under way.

Simon Cooper, Marriott International’s president and managing director Asia Pacific, said: “With the existing hotel market currently underserved in Dhaka and with the future growth in the infrastructure sector, the demand for quality hotel accommodation in the city is growing strongly.

“This will be Marriott International’s second hotel in the city as we already have a Courtyard hotel under construction which we expect will open next year.”

The property will be located in an emerging location in the middle of the city and will feature three restaurants, two bars, a spa with eight treatment rooms, and 2,280 square meters of meeting space.

“Bangladesh has a thriving economy and the country’s GDP has been growing at approximately 6 percent a year for the past five years.

“We absolutely believe that now is the right time to bring our luxury JW Marriott brand to Bangladesh and in Jamuna Builders Limited we have an owner with a great vision and drive to make this a truly stunning hotel in a great location,” added Cooper.

Dhaka is well connected to India, the Middle East and South East Asia and more than 30 international airlines fly into Dhaka which has seen passenger traffic grow from approximately 3.2 million in 2005 to 6 million passengers in 2012.