Marrakech – Egypt’s Pickalbatros Hotels & Resorts has secured a $200 million loan from the World Bank to fund a major expansion of its hotel portfolio in Morocco, Chairman Kamel Abou-Aly confirmed to Asharq Business.
Abou-Aly noted that the group expects to receive the funding in August or September. The financing will support four new projects in Casablanca and Marrakech, adding approximately 800 rooms to the group’s Moroccan operations.
“This financing marks the World Bank’s first tourism-sector funding for a private-sector company in Africa,” Abou-Aly told Forbes Middle East.
‘A large market with tremendous opportunities’
Pickalbatros currently operates seven hotels in Morocco with a combined capacity of approximately 1,500 rooms. Its most recent opening was the Sanju Club resort in Marrakech last September. The new developments are expected to bring the group’s Moroccan footprint to around 16 hotels and resorts.
“Morocco is a large market with tremendous opportunities. Choosing it as our first destination for expansion outside Egypt was the right decision, and its success has validated that strategy,” Abou-Aly told Forbes Middle East.
The expansion tracks with Morocco’s broader tourism trajectory. The country welcomed 19.8 million tourists in 2025, a 14% year-on-year increase; it received 7.7 million visitors in the first five months of 2026, reflecting 7% annual growth. Morocco is targeting 25,000 new hotel rooms ahead of co-hosting the 2030 FIFA World Cup with Spain and Portugal.
Beyond Morocco, Pickalbatros is pursuing growth across multiple markets. In Egypt, the group plans to open its first hotel in Cairo – the Le Méridien Al Orouba – with a 280-room capacity by the end of 2026. It will also inaugurate the 620-room Paradise hotel in Sharm El Sheikh before the year’s end. Abou-Aly declined to disclose the investment amounts for either project.
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The group currently owns and manages 25 hotels in Egypt with a total capacity exceeding 21,000 rooms, according to Abou-Aly’s remarks to Asharq Business.
It is targeting 2,000 new rooms and suites across Marsa Alam, Sharm El Sheikh, and Hurghada during the current year, having recently opened 900 rooms in the Makadi area of Hurghada and 750 rooms in Morocco.
In a separate interview with Forbes Middle East, Abou-Aly indicated the group plans to add approximately 9,000 rooms over the next four years, bringing its Egyptian inventory to around 24,000.
Since its founding in 1992, Pickalbatros has grown to encompass total investments of roughly $5 billion. The group allocated $200 million in capital spending for 2026, an increase exceeding 120% over the previous year.
Pickalbatros is also exploring investment opportunities in Oman, including in Salalah and Muscat. Earlier this year, the group signed a memorandum of understanding with Oman’s Shati Al Nakhil to manage a new 350-room hotel, marking its first entry into the Gulf market.
Egypt’s tourism sector, meanwhile, recorded 5.6 million arrivals in the first quarter of 2026, a 43.5% year-on-year jump. Revenues approached $5.1 billion during the same period, up 34% from a year earlier. The country is targeting $35.4 billion in tourism investment to add 340,000 hotel rooms by 2031, raising total capacity to 568,000 from 228,000 at the end of 2024.
Earlier in June, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank Group’s private-sector arm, disclosed plans to finance Pickalbatros’s expansion in Morocco through a package that could reach $200 million. According to the IFC, the total investment program carries an estimated cost of $350 million.
The financing would comprise a $160 million senior loan from the IFC and a $40 million tranche mobilized from partner lenders, with Pickalbatros covering the remaining $150 million through its own equity.
The IFC’s breakdown allocates $125 million for the acquisition of two hotel establishments, $105 million for renovation, modernization, and environmental upgrading of newly acquired assets, $65 million for greening existing properties, and $55 million for refinancing a portion of the group’s local medium-term debt.
Projects would span Marrakech, Agadir, and Casablanca. The IFC board is scheduled to consider approval at its June 29 session.
