MIDDLE EAST
Spa lobby
“ It ’ s a very active market when it comes to opening hotels ,” he says . “ And there has been a notable shift in terms of what people and investors are looking for . Whereas before it would be a five-star hotel , now people are looking at hotels with select-service plans . Investors are looking for a vehicle that they can invest their money into .”
The company ’ s Middle Eastern footprint encompasses the GCC , of which Franzen is General Manager at the Grand Hyatt Doha Hotel & Villas , but also oversees operations of the hotels in Qatar and Oman where the
company continues to grow and seek out further opportunities to operate .
“ There are a lot of things happening in the pipeline at the moment ,” he says . “ It ’ s a large company , so we are looking to add properties in primary and secondary cities in various GCC countries . As I said before , it ’ s a very active market right now .” Franzen was born into the industry , growing up in Zermatt , Switzerland , a town defined by its tourism market in the Swiss Alps at the foot of mount Matterhorn .
Fast forward to 2018 , by way of working as a chef for freestanding
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