Millennium Hotels & Resorts Middle East & Africa has appointed accomplished hotelier Hamid Sidine as its managing director for Saudi Arabia.

The move comes as the hospitality firm forges ahead with its ambitious development strategy for the kingdom.

The industry professional, who has 30-years of regional and international experience, including leadership roles with global hospitality brands, will head up the company’s Riyadh office.

He will be responsible for achieving the recently announced goal of operating 25 hotels countrywide by 2025.

Given his broad-ranging expertise across three continents, Sidine has also been appointed chief operating officer for Turkey and Africa, two fast-growing regions where the hospitality company has identified strong development potential as part of its strategic expansion plans.

The hospitality company currently operates nine properties in the kingdom across Makkah, Madinah and Hail and has seven more under development in Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah, Jazan, Riyadh and Tabouk.

Its five-year blueprint for accelerated growth focuses on identifying opportunities to manage additional hotels in strategic locations in every region across the kingdom, supported by a robust Human Resources strategy, with the aim of doubling is current workforce to meet targets.

Sidine takes on the newly created role based on three decades working with global brands such as Sofitel, Pullman, Coralia Club and Novotel in countries including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon in the Middle East; Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Chad and the Ivory Coast in Africa; and France in Europe.

The multi-lingual Moroccan national also holds several academic certificates in disciplines including leadership development, finance for executives and strategic marketing from Harvard Business School.

Kevork Deldelian, chief executive officer of Millennium Hotels & Resorts Middle East & Africa, said: “Sidine’s vast experience and leadership expertise will be a distinct advantage as we realise our strategic vision for Saudi Arabia and further strengthen our partnerships with hotel owners in the kingdom, with a priority on maximising return on investment.

“I am confident Sidine will also drive forward our growth strategy in Turkey and Africa, stamping out our footprint in destinations on our development radar.”

Millennium Hotels & Resorts

Millennium Hotels & Resorts has operated in the Middle East since 2002.

The company owns, asset manages and operates over 130 hotels worldwide.

With almost 40,000 rooms globally, the company is present in nearly all continents with a portfolio of brands, which serve different market segments.

Millennium Hotels & Resorts Middle East & Africa currently operates 45 hotels comprising almost 15,000 rooms, in addition to ten hotels due to open in 2020. In total, there are 23 hotels in the pipeline across the region.

Millennium Hotels & Resorts is considered the Middle East’s Leading Business Hotel Brand by voters at the World Travel Awards.