Wyndham Takes Chance on Iraq

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Wyndham Hotel Group has announced its entry into Iraq with the opening of the Ramada Sulaymaniyah Salim Street in Kurdistan.

The hotel features 58 rooms, 13 suites, 728-square-meter theater-style ballroom, a 144-square-meter indoor pool, a Turkish bath, saunas and a whirlpool. 

"Wyndham Hotel Group constantly evaluates opportunities to enter new markets and bring our renowned brands and best-in-class service to new destinations," Rui Barros, Wyndham Hotel Group's senior vice president of EMEA said in a release. "We look forward to offering business and leisure travelers in the market a new hotel experience."

Although Iraq continues to suffer through spurts of violence, the northern Kurdistan region is increasing in popularity as a tourism location. Erbil was named the Arab Council of Tourism's 2014 tourism capital, according to Time magazine.

"We have an ambition to be an international, worldwide destination by 2015," Mawlawi Jabar Wahab, head of Kurdistan's general board of tourism told Time magazine. "We never thought our ambitions could be so big."

Last year, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide announced it was re-entering Iraq after 20 years with the Sheraton Erbil Hotel scheduled to open in 2015.

"The opening of the new Sheraton Erbil Hotel further underlines Starwood's commitment to growth and expansion in the region." Roeland Vos, president, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, EMEA said in a release. 

The Wyndham Hotel Group continues to expand in the Middle East region. On the same day it opened the Kurdistan hotel, the group opened the 144-room, 18-story Ramada Plaza Beirut Raouche. It also announced plans to introduce the Super 8 brand to Saudi Arabia, without specifying when.