Shaza Hotels Announces Expansion Plan in Turkey at the Tourism Investment Forum

Shaza Hotels announced its expansion plan for the Turkish market at the Tourism Investment Forum 2020 (TIF) organised by the Turkish Tourism Investors Association TTYD in Istanbul last week. The exclusive conference brought together leading international investors, financial institutions, banks and real estate developers to discuss opportunities to shape the future of tourism in the country.

Chris Nader, Vice President, Shaza Hotels, said, "Shaza represents the cultures of the Silk Route, and Turkey is a strategic market for our story and expansion plans. We spent the last few years growing our brands in the Middle East and have now established an office in Istanbul to actively pursue opportunities in Turkey and surrounding markets. The country is ready to welcome new and fresh brands, and our unique brand proposition fits perfectly the needs of investors and travellers, both from a concept standpoint and investment criteria standpoint."

As members of the Global Hotel Alliance, luxury brand Shaza and its upscale brand Mysk by Shaza are the only international hotel brands that manage exclusively alcohol-free hotels.

Nader stressed, "Historically, investors and operators have focussed primarily on two markets: Istanbul and Bodrum. We would of course like to manage properties in these two highly performing cities; however, we also see immense potential in secondary cities and remote destinations. Turkey has so much richness in terms of culture, heritage and nature outside the main cities, and the country needs to promote these locations by developing quality hotels, resorts and retreats to attract the new generation of travellers. This is what we want to achieve."

Shaza Hotels is currently in discussion for various projects in Turkey, including wellness resorts, nature and thermal retreats, and historical palaces connected to heritage and cultural sites.

The Turkish Tourism Investors Association strives to achieve robust, resilient, sustainable, innovative and high-quality nation-wide growth in tourism. The government's 11^th development plan has identified tourism as one of the strategic industries, which is to receive special incentives and support, especially outside primary cities. It was recently announced that Turkey has the potential to attract more than 75 million foreign tourists and generate $65 billion in tourism revenues by 2023.