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1,184 reports
The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) will probably achieve its 2009 tourism goals despite the economic downturn, according to tourism chiefs. The ADTA is aiming for about 1.5 million hotel guests this year. ADTA director of strategy and policy said “The targets we have in place are based on a solid understanding of demand and supply fundamentals.” Laurence Franklin said the launch of Air Asia flights…
Atlantis The Palm Hotel announced Serge Zaalof, a French national, as the new Chief Operating Officer . He replaces General Manager Amadeo Zarzosa who last week resigned suddenly to the surprise of many. The hotel did not offer a reason for his resignation. . Serge Zaalof has ten y ears experience with Jumeirah Group and will now be the Chief Operating Officer for Kerzner International, which Atlantis…
The Sofitel Dubai Jumeriah Beach hotel is set to shake up the hotel sector with its unique brand of French hospitality. The hotel’s general manager believes the Gallic approach to life and entertaining will set his 438 room property apart from the rest. Gilles Longuet said “It’s the only luxury hotel with the French art de vivre, art de recevoir”. He said over time they want to be the leader among hotels in…
Travco Group bought a 99.6% share of the European hotel chain ,Steigenberger Hotels AG. Travcor Group is a hotel and tour operator based in Egypt that owns 50% of TUI Group, the biggest and most experienced tour operator in Europe. Travcor Group has assets of more than 1.25 billion euros and posted posted consolidated revenues of 600 millon euros in 2009. The company employs 18,000 people. Steigenberger was…
Jumeirah Group is considering adding a lifestyle hotel brand to bring further depth to their current traditional luxury hotel offering. Executive Chairman Gerald Lawless said they are considering developing another hotel brand but if they did “we would still do it in the luxury, five star segment but more on the lifestyle, contemporary styled brand.” Jumeirah Group’s overall revenues have dropped between 25%…
Media One Hotel, a mixed use development consisting of offices along with 216 hotel rooms, will open in October. The recently appointed General Manager of the new four star hotel, De Conceicao-Stuart said “Since it is a new property with all the facilities, the revenue per available room, an industry benchmark, would be comparable to the industry standards.” The hotel occupies the first 23 floors of the mixed…
Dubai hotels revenue per available room (RevPar) declined 24% in July to US$107.09 (Dh393.35), a significant improvement over the 33.9% fall the previous month. RevPar is an important measure of the health of the hotel industry. The information was reported by STR Global, whose managing director said “The Middle East finally showed some signs of improvement, with Dubai making significant gains.” Hotel…
Makkah hotels and Umrah companies will suffer heavy losses during Ramadan this year because many foreigners are cancelling their pilgrimage plans due to fears over the H1N1 virus. Businessman operating in the Umrah sector asked the Haj Ministry to seek financial compensation from authorities. One prominent industry representative said hotel cancellations have so far reached 50%. Walid Abu Sabaa said…
Kingdom Hotel and Investments (KHI) H1 profit fell 61% to US $8 million (Dh29m) from $20.6 million for the same period last year. The fall in profit is due mainly to weak performance by its Four Seasons Hotels in Paris and Cairo, property sales, and impairment charges. KHI, based in Dubai, is a hotel and resort investment company. Saudi billionaire Prince Alaweed bin Talal founded the company and is…
Jordan’s first internationally branded economy hotel in Jordan, the ibis Amman, will launch on September 2009. Kuwait based Action Hotels and Accor Hospitality Middle East made the announcement today. Action Hotels is a subsidiary of Action Group Holdings. The ibis Amman is in the Tila’Al Ali district, exactly opposite the Amman mall, close to the center of the capital’s prime commercial and leisure areas –…
Rotana Hotels, based in Abu Dhabi, sees great potential for development of the tourism sector in Iraq as the countries security improves. Rotana has signed up to manage two five star hotels in Iraq over the past two years. One hotel will be in the heavily guarded International Green Zone and the other in Erbil, the Kurdistan region in the north. President and Chief Executive of the hotel, Mr. El Zyr, said…
The flagship company of the Oberoi Group, India’s EIH Limited, announced they plan to build three hotels in Abu Dhabi and Oman. Chairman of the company PRS Oberoi said they will consolidate, grow and continue to make steady progress. Oberoi said construction of a 252 room Oberoi hotel in Business Bay, Dubai is on track and the property is scheduled to open in 2011. The Oberoi group will manage the property…
General Manager of the 1539 room Palm Dubai, Atlantis Hotel resigned. Amadeo Zarzosa gave no reasons for leaving but it is believed he left for personal reasons. During an interview on 9 August 2009 he said he planned to keep expanding the Palm Dubai. Kerzner International proposed to add an upgraded all suite product to the site. Zarsoza was very proud of the properties success and passionate about the…
Dubai hotels are trying to attract more visitors from neighboring emirates to boost occupancy by extending summer and weekend packages through Ramadan. Naseem Darkazally with Rotana Dubai explained “Rotana normally has two different campaigns for summer and Ramadan. The advantage for us this year is that Ramadan falls during the summer, so the aggressive campaign will cover most of Ramadan.” Darkazally is the…
Air Arabia will open the new three star 300 room Centro Hotel at Sharjah Airport in April 2010. The airline said that concrete for all four floors of the hotel is finished, and they expect the hotel will be completed below budget. Air Arabia Chief Executive Adel Ali said the Centro by Rotana is an important part of the airlines expansion strategy. He said “In addition to enhancing the services offered…
Lodging Econometrics reported that the Middle East will see 99 new hotel openings with 25,829 hotel rooms in 2009, and most of the new openings will be occur in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Lodging Econometrics, an international firm that tracks all hotel real estate, forecasts that 110 hotels with 31,725 rooms will open in 2010. During the first quarter of 2009 68 new hotels with 11,924 guest rooms opened in the…
A new US hotel brand will make its debut in the Middle East with the launch of a new hotel in Abu Dhabi. The Aloft hotel will be located near the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC) and offer designer style and accessible technology at an affordable price to the business traveler. It will provide guests a self service check in facility. General Manager for Aloft Abu Dhabi said “We have the…
Many foreign buyers are interested in various hotel properties in Dubai, but discouraged by the limited availability of loans. CB Richard Ellis manager Amine Hamdani said the return on investment in 5 star hotels is much better in Dubai than in Paris. She said Dubai properties generate about 35% net income for investors compared to 15% for properties in France. Hamdani explained while more international…
