Hotel101, backed by Jollibee’s billionaire owner, will build 10,000 hotel rooms in Saudi Arabia for $2.5 billion
Hotel101 Global, a company owned by DoubleDragon, is expanding into Saudi Arabia. DoubleDragon is co-owned by Tony Tan Caktiong, the founder of the famous Philippine fast-food chain Jollibee, and property tycoon Edgar Sia II. The company plans to build 10,000 hotel rooms in Saudi Arabia, worth $2.5 billion, to take advantage of the country’s growing travel industry.
Hotel101 is working with Saudi Arabia’s Horizon Group to build its first five hotels. The first one will be in Medina, followed by Riyadh, Jeddah, Abha, and Alula. Each hotel will have around 500 rooms.
This expansion is happening before Hotel101 plans to go public on the Nasdaq stock market. Edgar Sia mentioned in February that the listing will happen by mid-2025. This move follows a $2.3 billion merger with a Hong Kong investment company.
“We see big opportunities in Saudi Arabia because tourism there is growing fast, both from locals and international visitors,” said Hotel101 CEO Hannah Yulo-Luccini. “We think Saudi Arabia will be one of our best markets worldwide.”
Saudi Arabia is one of the 25 countries Hotel101 plans to expand into. In 2023, it welcomed 27 million foreign tourists and 79 million local tourists, who spent around $67 billion. The country is also important for Filipino workers living abroad, whose money helps the Philippine economy.
Hotel101 wants to build a worldwide chain of hotels with rooms that all look the same to save costs and offer affordable prices. It uses a “condotel” model, where rooms are sold before the hotel is finished. Investors can buy a room for around $250,000, earn 30% of the income from that room, and stay for free up to 10 days a year.
“With Hotel101’s fast construction method and our local experience, we’ll build 10,000 good-quality, affordable rooms across Saudi Arabia,” said Abdulrahman Sharbatly, CEO of Horizon Group.
Saudi Arabia is the fourth country outside the Philippines where Hotel101 is expanding. It already has projects in Japan (in Niseko), Madrid, and Los Angeles. In the Philippines, it runs two hotels with over 1,100 rooms and is building nine more. The company hopes to reach 1 million rooms worldwide by 2050.
Edgar Sia is worth $340 million and ranked 39th on the list of the Philippines’ richest people in 2023. Tony Tan Caktiong is worth $2.9 billion and ranked 6th.
Horizon Group is involved in real estate, trade, hotels, and transportation. It also owns a share in SAMACO, which sells luxury cars like Audi, Bentley, Porsche, and Bugatti in Saudi Arabia.
Published: 31th May 2025
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