Rotana, the region’s largest hotel management company, plans to counter declining demand from the West with robust expansion in the GCC and emerging markets, the company’s vice president said today.

The chain, which manages a portfolio of 67 properties throughout the Middle East and plans to open 42 more by 2010, opened its first office in Jeddah last month, and plans to open its first hotel in Mecca next summer. It is scheduled to open 17 new four and five-star hotels and resorts across Saudi Arabia in the next five years.

The National