UAE-based Rotana Hotel Management Corporation plans to increase its portfolio of hotels in the Middle East and North Africa region to more than 70 properties by the end of 2014.

Rotana is set to open seven new hotels in 2010, and five of these will be located in the UAE. This will bring Rotana’s total regional portfolio to 43 properties by the end of the year.

The first of these new properties, Centro Barsha, is scheduled to open in Dubai in May. The hotel will include 246 rooms, restaurant, business facilities, gymnasium and a swimming pool.

Rotana will open another hotel in Dubai, the Amwaj Rotana, located at the Jumeirah Beach Residence complex, in June. The new development will consist of 301 rooms, ballroom, meeting rooms, swimming pool and gymnasium.

The hotel group will open two hotels in Abu Dhabi. The 443-room Khalidiya Palace Rayhaan, located near Abu Dhabi International Airport, is also set to open in June. The Hili Rayhaan, located in Al-Ain city, is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of this year.

Rotana will open its fifth new property in the UAE in the emirate of Fujairah. The Nour Arjaan is set to open in the fourth quarter of 2010 and will contain 252 rooms.

The hotelier is also set to open two hotels outside the UAE this year. The Oryx Rotana is set to open in Doha, Qatar, in June, and the Erbil Rotana, located near the Erbil International Exhibition centre in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, is planned to open towards the end of the fourth quarter.