“We are going to build a very beautiful hotel in Taghazout with the very latest standards!” Guy Mrach, co-president of the Tikida Group, is very proud of the company’s new project in the new Azur seaside resort, located in the north of the Agadir region. It will be a five-star eco-resort, under the RIU brand, located on 18 ha of land with a SHOB surface area (gross surface area of buildings) of 68,437.06 m².
Named the RIU Tikida Palace Taghazout, the establishment is built in partnership with RIU Hotels & Resorts, a subsidiary of the TUI Group, up to 30% for the latter, through the RIU chain and 70% for the Tikida company. It will require an investment of more than 920 million DH and should be operational in May 2019. It will offer the destination 504 rooms, or 1,500 beds and 400 direct jobs. “This is our biggest challenge and the biggest investment ever made by the Tikida Group”, specifies Jalil Benabbès-Taarji, administrator and general manager of the eponymous group. The manager adds that his company is happy to be part of this major project that is the Taghazout station, a dream for all Moroccans.
For the design of the project, the project owners called on the architect Ahmed Kharim and the interior designers Jad & Kaous.
The landscaping component was entrusted to the Arq & Land design firm. A major feature of the project is the sustainable development approach present at all stages from design to development of the hotel, having regard to the specifications imposed on investors by the SAPST (Taghazout station development and promotion company).
The hotel should therefore ultimately, like the entire seaside resort, be HQE (High Environmental Quality) certified. To do this, project owners are supported in this process by the Oasis France firm. The establishment will also stand out for its contemporary architecture with references to traditional Moroccan architecture, in particular through the spatial arrangement of patios, with bodies of water in the central axis to reproduce the traditional local atmosphere. Another particularity, the hotel which combines in its location with the topography of the land, will offer a sea view for all its accommodation components and common areas. The whole thing will not exceed R+2. The establishment will also stand out with seven swimming pools, two of which are on the seafront. For the moment, the construction site is at the structural works stage with a progress of 25%.
In terms of commercial strategy, the hotel which will be marketed as an all-inclusive formula opts for the same approach that has been applied until now to all the group’s establishments.
It is banking on 80% of its filling in the TUI Group’s preferred markets, namely the United Kingdom, Germany, Benelux and France.
For the Tikida company, this is the eighth investment in the hotel industry. Note that the Tikida Group was founded in 1968 by Guy Mrach, joined in 1973 by Ahmed Benabbès-Taarji. Both first developed their activity in the travel sector and then in the tourist transport sector (land and air), and are now mainly dedicated to the development of hotels and other activities in the tourism and leisure sector.
Currently, the Tikida Group has a capacity of 2,920 rooms, or 7,980 beds, mainly in Marrakech and Agadir. Since 2011, the company has entrusted the management of almost the entire Tikida Group hotel portfolio to the RIU chain to devote itself to investment.
source: today.ma
