Qatar Airways is planning a rapid expansion of its hotel division, Dhiafatina.
Although the name is little-known, the group already has five hotels.
These are:
The Sheraton Skyline Hotel at London’s Heathrow Airport
The Novotel Edinburgh Park in Scotland
The Oryx Rotana Hotel in Doha
The Airport Hotel located at Hamad International Airport
and, most recently, The Sheraton Melbourne.
Speaking at the launch of the new flights to Da Nang, Group CEO of Qatar Airways Akbar Al Baker, detailed expansion plans for the airline and its hospitality division, saying the aim was “to have 50 hotels”, adding that these would be in destinations that the airline flies to (150 and counting, at present), but that the expansion would not be indiscriminate.
“We have already turned down three deals this year because when people learn they are dealing with Qatar they think I have a bank in my pocket.”
Asked by Business Traveller if it was likely that the properties would predominantly be in airport locations, Al Baker said that while the hotels performed a useful function in providing potential accommodation for flight crew, they would not be restricted to airport properties.
As the roll out continues it is possible that the hotels might receive more overt branding. At one time this was thought to be Oryx, and indeed the Oryx Rotana property has this branding already.
