Stellar Performance by Abu Dhabi Hotels In September

The Abu Dhabi hotel market continues to gain momentum with four to five star hotels reporting positive gains in performance levels for the month of September compared to last year, according to the latest HotStats report by TRI Consulting. Abu Dhabi has been having challenges over last couple of years because of the increase in new supply which had an impact on the average room rates.

However, in the last two to three months the average room rates have started to increase and bottom out. The September data from HotStats reports shows that YTD performance for Abu Dhabi hotels is actually increasing; the Average Room Rate (ARR) increased by 4.2% to US$128.96 while occupancy grew by 6.6 percent points to 76.6%, resulting in revenue per available room (RevPAR) rising 14% to US $98.76.

There is a marginal increase compared to 2013 which is great news for Abu Dhabi because the city is attracting a lot more visitors which in turn has resulted in very strong occupancy levels and it has helped the hoteliers to turn that corner and start yielding more effectively when it comes to room rates.

The hotel profitability is relatively strong in Abu Dhabi but the rates are still comparatively lower than the hotels in Dubai, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah. This difference in rate is because of huge influx of supply and a weak demand for a last couple of years. So, the hoteliers resorted to drop their rates to get people into their bedrooms but now that the demand has shifted and a lot of people have started coming through, the rates have started coming up. In fact it is projected that in the next couple of years the Abu Dhabi hotel rates will be on par with Dubai.

The biggest source market for Abu Dhabi is India. The Secondary market is with the UK and US but surprisingly Abu Dhabi doesn’t attract a large proportion of Saudi Arabian visitors. Saudi Arabia is the largest source market in Dubai yet it doesn’t register in the top 5 markets in Abu Dhabi.

A lot of new real estate, retail, leisure and entertainment projects are in the pipeline to cater to the growing needs of the visitors. In fact, Macy’s and Bloomingdales, two of the biggest departmental stores in the US, are planning to set up shop at the capitals Al Maryah Island and with Yas mall opening in November Abu Dhabi will attract more regional visitors because it has a greater retail offering. Retail drives the people and if you look at the Saudi visitors, their biggest motivation is leisure and shopping.

Abu Dhabi is also building up the level of demand to attract large groups of 90+ but they don’t have the infrastructure. ADNEC has the capability to cater to large groups but they don’t have the driving force. Abu Dhabi is trying to position itself as a destination to attract international visitors but Dubai is still leading the way.

Having said that, the hotel occupancy will continue to grow in Abu Dhabi as it gears up for world class events like Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and opening of retail space in the near future.

Booking.com, Hilton, Emirates and Etihad - World’s Most In-demand Employers: LinkedIn

LinkedIn recently announced the 100 most attractive employers its members would like to work for, and a few renowned companies from the Hospitality business, online Travel & Tourism, and Aviation industry made it to this list.

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network on the Internet, announced the rankings at its 2014 Talent Connect conference held recently in San Francisco. Booking.com was ranked as the 68th most in-demand employer among other notable companies, including Google, Apple and Unilever.

The companies on the list represent 17 countries, 59 cities and 33 industries. While the top 3 represented industries on this list were Tech, Telecom and Media, Retail & Consumer Products, and Oil & Energy.

Among the Travel and Tourism industries that make the top 100 list are booking.com (68^th), Airbnb (60^th) and Expedia (65^th).

Booking.com was one of the top tech disruptors to enter the attractive employers list as they were not featured in the 2013 list. Booking.com is owned by Priceline and the parent company (Priceline) has acknowledged that retaining Booking.com’s motivated and capable management allowing the brand to operate independently and offering Booking.com’s breadth of hotel supply have contributed to its phenomenal growth. The tech developers at booking.com make decisions based on real time data by analyzing the behavioral patterns of consumers and by using these search results they tailor their offering to the consumers. Employees at booking.com work hard and play harder. The work environment at booking.com is friendly, supportive and casual. They have a dynamic task force that contributes towards their success which makes it a very popular employer in the online travel and tourism category. 

Among the hospitality business, Hilton Worldwide came in 55th place, while Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts came in close behind in 59th place.

The UAE’s two major airlines, Emirates (52) and Etihad (82), also made it to the Linkedin rankings.

The ranking is based on the analysis over 35 billion interactions between companies and members on LinkedIn. The way companies are ranked boils down to LinkedIn member awareness of a company (e.g. how many people have viewed an employees’ profiles within the past year) and engagement on LinkedIn (e.g., how many members have followed a company’s Company or Career Page within the past year). Higher talent brand awareness and engagement among members on LinkedIn equal a more effective talent brand and a higher InDemand ranking.

Sharjah Tourism Body Launches New Hospitality Criteria System

Sharjah has launched a new hospitality criteria system in a bid to boost the emirate’s hotel services, according to a top government official. 

Blue Souq

The Emirate is one of the fastest growing tourism markets in the world with world class infrastructure and services contributing to the nation’s economy. A number of new hospitality and tourism projects are in the pipeline, adding to the Sharjah’s growing tourism infrastructure of world-class luxury hotels, beach resort and business tourism facilities in the emirate, said HE Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Director General, Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority.

Corniche

The main objective of the system is to enhance the Emirates’ hotel services and have the latest technology. The Sharjah Tourism will also introduce new methods of gathering information from Hotel Guests.

The emirate attracted one million guests during the first six months of this year, up 14 per cent over the same period in 2013.

Al Qasba

The hotel occupancy rate was approx 74 per cent during the first half of this year while the average occupancy during the same period last year was at 70 per cent. Guests stayed for 1,87,416 nights during the first half of this year – of those 110,621 nights were at hotels and 711,206 at hotel apartments. While 1,753,866 room nights were occupied during the same period last year.

In the first half this year, Sharjah welcomed 369,485 visitors from GCC countries, which currently accounts for 34 per cent of the total hotel guests. Meanwhile visitors from European nations represented 37 percent of the total hotel guests. Visitors from Asia contributed 13% towards Sharjah Tourism market, while visitors from other Arab nations constituted 12 %. The number of international visitors from America, Africa and Asia Pacific contributed 1 per cent each.

Sharjah is aggressively boosting its presence in the UAE hospitality market, with a portfolio of 106 hotels and hotel apartments at present and could see 30 hotels in the next three years, adding 4000 rooms to the existing 10000 rooms.

Photo credit - http://christindim.com

'The Hotel Show' - MENA region's Number One Hospitality Event Opens in Dubai

The 15^th edition of the Hotel Show, the premiere event for the trade and hospitality industry opens in Dubai on 28^th Sept 2014.

The three day event will attract over 600 participants suppliers of the latest products and leading global brands. The show brings together industry players from a range of services, including hospitality and leisure, design and restaurants, etc.

In 2013, 16,700 hotel and hospitality partners visited the show where deals worth almost $4 billion of business were sanctioned for the following 12 months.

The Hotel Show will feature conferences, awards, and unique networking opportunities for industry professionals.

“The Middle East is recognized as having some of the fastest growing economies in the world - with forecasts of up to 3 per cent growth before 2016 — and we are delighted to be able to offer real business opportunities to all who participate”, stated Christine Davidson, Event Director at The Hotel Show.”

The key highlight of the show is the Vision conference, where Issam Kazim, The Chief Executive of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Marketing (DCTCM) will deliver a key note speech. Other sessions of the conference will cover trends in the hospitality and leisure sector, the development and growth of mid market hotels, and interior designing trends.

Another feature of the show is International Village, where more than 300 international companies will be represented from more than 45 countries, including Austria, Belgium, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Philippines, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and the UK.