Saudi Alhokair to Leverage Microfinance Across its Wide Retail Network, Says CEO
Saudi-based franchise retailer Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Co. will start offering microfinance solutions across its wide network of retail stores in the Kingdom, Vogacloset, and other platforms. The retailer’s revenue from online operations reached SR171 million ($45.5 million) in the nine months ending Dec. 31, the company’s chief executive officer, Marwan Moukarzel, told Argaam. Alhokair currently has 1,400 stores, 300 of which are located outside the Kingdom, and its brand
portfolio comprises a total of 85 brands, according to Moukarzel. “The company opened 63 stores in the first nine months of 2021/22 and is planning another nine stores in the fourth quarter of the same fiscal year, including Flying Tiger and Alo Yoga,” he said. Following the recent franchise agreement with US food brand Subway, the executive added that the company is planning to add over 145 Subway outlets in the next six years.
As the pandemic-hit economy recovered, the retailer managed to swing from losses into SR82.7 million net profit in the first nine months of its fiscal year in 2021. The company saw a 46 percent hike in revenue during the same period, which was the main driver of the improved results, it said in a bourse statement earlier. Source: Arab News (https://bit.ly/34UZv5V)
Luxury Global Hospitality Brands Open Up on Saudi Red Sea Coastline in Flurry of Announcements Business hotel Four Points by Sheraton and luxury brand Shangri-La will cut the ribbon on new locations in Jeddah this week, while Kempinski will open a fivestar hotel on the coast of Al Muhar Island, part of the coastal city of Yanbu. The three resorts offer direct access to the Red Sea waterfront. These ventures fall in line with Vision 2030, aiming at promoting tourism and hospitality on the Saudi Red Sea, which is known as one of the last untouched coastlines in the world. Three luxury hospitality brands have announced plans to open new hotels on the Red Sea Coastline in a boost for the Saudi tourism industry.
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Harnessing the tourism industry is one way for the Kingdom to diversify its revenue base. Bernold Schroeder, CEO and chairman of Kempinski Group, said: “We are impressed with
the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and strategic planning, which aims to create a hub for international trade linking East and West. Expanding our portfolio in Saudi Arabia is a crucial and important step for Kempinski.” The Red Sea project plans to attract 1 million tourists a year by 2030 and add $4 billion to the Kingdom’s gross domestic product per annum. It will also generate 35,000 jobs, under plans outlined in 2017. In an analysis published on Thursday, Karen Smith Diwan from the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington said the project was part of Saudi Arabia’s “ambitious” economic diversification plans. “If fully realized, this new tourism infrastructure will form an alternate economic platform that greatly expands Saudi Arabia’s traditional focus on religious tourism and has the potential to reshape the social and political contours of the long-predominant oil economy,” she wrote. Source: Arab News (https://bit.ly/3gWQtI5)
