INSIGHT FROM AN INSIDER

Philippe Bacha founded Maraya Hospitality Pars LLC in Tehran in February 2017, catering to the need for F&B expertise. Maraya is leveraging 15 years of experience, working with most five-star hotel chains, three Michelins-star chefs and foreign franchises throughout the GCC and Africa to present the market with: F&B consulting services and food safety and hygiene audits, among other services. The company also introduces concepts to local investors through international franchises. According to Bacha, Iran is a land of opportunity for the F&B and hospitality markets for at least the coming decade. Tehran, with its 12-14 million native inhabitants, is still very far from reaching sufficient offerings in both quantity and quality. This is a market where dining out, for example, is the most common and often the only leisure activity. The potential for growth and for investment applies to new F&B outlets and new hotels, in addition to all sorts of accommodations, Bacha said. Such scarcity of suitable lodging options

Dining out, is the most common and often the only leisure activity contributes to sustained, very high room rates when compared to offered quality. He is confident that the hospitality market in Iran will grow exponentially with or without the progressive release of international sanctions. An identified large number of investors and operators are readying themselves to penetrate this promising market in the short and medium term, Bacha concluded.