The prestigious hotel chain, Ritz-Carlton, is coming to Israel. The chain will manage German Jewish businessman Joseph Buchman’s hotel in Tel Aviv. Buchman owns the land adjacent to the Dan hotel, on Tel Aviv’s beach front. There were several chains competing for the land, among the US Hilton and David Teig, who wanted to build a hotel to be managed by one of the brand names he represents.
The land is one of the last available plots designated for hotels along the Tel Aviv beach front, and is considered greatly in demand.
The Ritz-Carlton spokesperson confirmed the report, and added that the chain has been looking for some time for an opportunity to develop in Israel, particularly for the American Jewish market.
The Ritz-Carlton chain is owned by the Marriott hotel chain (49%), and an American investor from Atlanta in the US. The chain is regarded, together with "The Four Seasons", as the most prestigious hotel chain in the world. It should be mentioned that "The Four Seasons" signed an agreement about a year ago for the management of a hotel in Jerusalem.
The Ritz-Carlton runs 33 hotels world wide, most of them in North America, Mexico, the Caribbean Islands and the Far East. The chain manages only one hotel in Europe. The chain’s first hotel in the Middle East will open in June ’98 in Sharm-E-Sheik, and an additional hotel in Dubai will be opened in September ’98.
Published by Israel's Business Arena March 9, 1998