Nawaf Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani news starts today with a big milestone. Katara Hospitality stated that by mid-2025 it will own or run more than 40 hotels with over 9,000 rooms across four continents. The company’s total hotel assets are worth more than US$25 billion. This steady growth comes under the leadership of Sheikh Nawaf Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, who learned a “fix the basics first” style during his early days at QNHC. Founded in 1970 and later renamed Katara Hospitality, the group now owns famous city landmarks, historic resorts, and new hotels that mix local character with modern comforts.
The group’s rise did not happen through quick deals. Board archives show that Jassim Bin Jabor Al-Thani and his colleagues began by improving Doha’s existing stock, like a couple big-name hotels in Doha, plus some more moderately developed accommodations, before seeking new addresses abroad. They replaced worn carpets, upgraded booking systems, and trained entry-level workers to spot small faults before they grew. Over time those basics lifted guest scores and created a template that travels well from the Gulf to Europe and North America. Profiles filed under Sheikh Nawaf Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani’s biography often note how a daily habit of hotel walkthroughs, clipboard in hand, built the culture that still guides the company today.
A useful timeline of key events
- 2007 – Doha’s Sharq Village, managed by Ritz-Carlton, is unveiled.
- 2012 – Rebranding of QNHC as Katara Hospitality.
- 2018 – Launch of Qetaifan Island North in Lusail City, an estimated QAR 11 billion (approximately US$3 billion) waterfront project.
- 2018 – Joint hospitality investment fund with AccorHotels announced, targeting forty Sub-Saharan African properties with more than US$1 billion in capital.
- 2019 – Management agreement with Rixos Hotels signed for Qetaifan Island North.
- 2025 – Active estate surpasses forty hotels and nine thousand rooms; asset base confirmed above US$25 billion.
Domestic projects by Sheikh Nawaf Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani of Qatar
Inside Qatar, flagship properties continue to function as live laboratories. The Ritz-Carlton Doha brought seawater-based cooling into daily use, while the Sheraton Doha combined new glass façades with broader ramps and upgraded lifts. Sharq Village & Spa employed traditional adobe styling to match coastal architecture yet hid smart wiring under clay surfaces. Qetaifan Island North started in 2018. The project puts resort hotels, a water park, and homes on one site. The first phase was handed over in early 2022. The work shows how lessons learned at home guide the rest of the company and prove that every Katara hotel can mix local style with everyday comfort.
Expansion beyond the Gulf
After learning lessons at home, Katara Hospitality moved outward. A large resort opened on Oman’s Mirbat Beach in 2010, bringing stable winter tourism to a quiet shoreline. In Egypt, the Renaissance Golden View Beach Resort joined the portfolio in the mid-2000s and gained refreshed pools and lighting. In 2008 the company paid QAR 391 million for the Park Hyatt Casares Golf & Spa Resort in Andalusia. There was a quite interesting case where they (in essence) saved an old watchtower and built new villas around it. In France the team bought a townhouse on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. In 2011 they signed a deal to turn Morocco’s Tazi Palace into a hotel at a cost of about US$55 million.
These selective moves continued in Central Europe. Switzerland contributed a high-class resort as well as a luxury hotel and spa. The United Kingdom brought its own share of quite historic properties into the fold by 2018. North America entered the list the same year when Katara Hospitality announced the acquisition of the Plaza Hotel in New York, valued at roughly US$600 million. Singapore’s iconic Raffles Hotel and the Maldives memorandum of understanding, signed in 2013, further confirmed that the group’s geographical spread rests on long-standing brands in strong locations.
Partnerships and shared risk
Katara’s method relies on collaborations rather than solo branding. The 2018 fund with AccorHotels channels more than US$1 billion toward hotel openings and renovations across Sub-Saharan Africa, planning about forty sites within seven years. A separate operating deal with Rixos Hotels, signed in January 2019, covers the management of Qetaifan Island North’s main hotels. Both arrangements appear in routine Sheikh Nawaf Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani news reports because they underline how Katara brings capital strength while its partners supply on-the-ground expertise and specialised service models.
Workforce development
Training stands beside bricks and mortar in the company’s priorities. In 2008 Katara Hospitality reached a formal agreement with the Ministry of Labour and several Doha hotels to create a six-month cycle—three months in class, three on the floor—for Qatari students. The plan met its goal of twenty-percent Qatarisation by the end of 2009 and became a pattern copied in Oman, Egypt, and early African pilots. This direct link between study and hands-on practice features in annual Sheikh Nawaf Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani news reviews and remains a core measure of success.
Heritage and sustainability
Katara Hospitality treats heritage sites and environmental measures as partners rather than rivals. Traditional walls at Sharq Village hide energy-efficient systems. Lake-water cooling at the Royal Savoy and wristband-based cashless services at Qetaifan Island North ease daily operations while reducing waste. Future projects—such as a planned 60-room palace conversion in Granada due in 2028 and a riverfront tower in Ho Chi Minh City expected to break ground in 2026—will keep original arches, offer public walkways, and pursue net-zero daily operations as part of the company-wide 2035 carbon-neutral ambition.
Looking ahead
Katara Hospitality’s active portfolio now covers thirteen countries. The path forward includes the Granada heritage project in Spain, a three-hotel mid-scale cluster in Ghana, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire, and continued roll-out of the Sub-Saharan Africa fund with AccorHotels. These developments maintain the rhythm set in Doha two decades ago: inspect, repair, train, and only then expand. Analysts who track Sheikh Nawaf Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani news note that this rhythm avoids the pitfalls of rapid over-extension and keeps guest satisfaction at the front of every budget decision.
The company’s confirmed asset base of more than US$25 billion provides the financial depth to handle long refurbishment cycles common to historic properties. At the same time, leadership habits—daily site walks, open staff feedback, and a single standard for room readiness—anchor service culture in each new location. Observers summarise the model simply: repair basics, respect place, share knowledge, and reinvest gains.
