Shangri-La in Mid-East management deal

Far Eastern-based hotel group Shangri-La has signed contracts to manage two hotels in the Middle East.

They are the 210-bedroom Traders hotel in Dubai, which opens in early 2003, and the 714-bedroom Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort in Muscat, Oman.

When it opens, the Traders will be Shangri-La's second management contract hotel in Dubai. Its first, the 302-bedroom Shangri-La hotel, opens at the end of 2002.

The company has 37 hotels in the Far East with more than 19,000 bedrooms.

It owns, or has a majority equity stake in, 35 of them and is contracted to manage the remaining two.

The company said it was using management contracts as a means of enabling it to expand quickly in new areas.

It added that it was not looking at hotels in Europe or the USA but would consider both regions if the right opportunities arose.