Tag Archives: dubai lifestyle news
Dubai hotel receives prestigious TripAdvisor award
The quality of the UAE's hotels and resorts has been demonstrated once again, as the Grand Millennium Dubai landed the prestigious TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 2013 award.In order to be eligible for this accolade, hotels must garner positive reviews from customers on a regular basis and only the top ten per cent of firms listed on the TripAdvisor website are considered for the prize.Companies must maintain an overall rating of four out of five or higher to be in with a shout of scooping the award – a feat that the Grand Millennium Dubai has achieved with aplomb.”Grand Millennium Dubai is pleased to receive a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence,” said Peter Mansourian, general manager at the hotel.”We strive to offer our customers a memorable experience and this accolade is evidence that our hard work is translating into positive reviews.”With so many splendid hotels spread across Dubai, it can be difficult for resorts to stand out.The Grand Millennium Dubai undoubtedly benefits from its superb location just off the Sheikh Zayed Road, which means guests have easy access to the city's main business and leisure attractions, including the Mall of the Emirates and the Ibn Battuta Mall.Millennium has a strong presence in the Middle East and has three other hotels in Dubai, including the Millennium Airport Hotel Dubai, Copthorne Hotel Dubai and Millennium Plaza Hotel Dubai.It certainly appears to be a good time for investors to muscle in on Dubai's lucrative hotel industry, as recent figures provided by TRI Hospitality Consulting showed that occupancy rates are rising all the time.Indeed, 89.8 per cent of rooms across the emirate were full in March 2013, which was a 2.3 per cent upturn on the corresponding month in 2012.Although a plethora of new hotels are being built at the moment, the chances of supply outweighing demand are slim, as travel experts predict that more and more people will stay in Dubai in the coming years, either for business or leisure purposes. Continue reading
Dubai hotel occupancy hit 89.6% in Jan
Occupancy rates across Dubai’s top end hotels reached an average of 89.6 percent in January, according to TRI Hospitality Consulting, representing an increase of 4.2 percentage points compared to a year ago. The HotStats MENA report, which collates occupancy across four and five-star properties, found that average room rates in the glitzy emirate also rose 5 percent to US$359.39. Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) was up 10.2 percent to US$321.85. January typically sees a rise in the number of guests staying in Dubai’s hotels, TRI said, due to the annual Dubai Shopping Festival, whose retail bargains entices out-of-town visitors to the city. “This mega-event offers a perfect start to the year for the tourism establishments in the city, and helps bridge the gap between the end of year holidays and European winter breaks,” said Peter Goddard, managing director at TRI Hospitality Consulting. The report found that properties in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi were also able to capitalise from the overspill of guests visiting Dubai for the shopping festival, as hotels registered a 10.8 percentage point increase in occupancy to 71.7 percent during January. Despite this, average room rates continued to fall, sliding 10.7 percent during the month to US$167.77. “Despite stronger demand, hotels in the capital have failed to capitalise these events to improve top line performances, simply due to the competition,” Goddard added. Elsewhere in the region, hotels in Kuwait saw a 6.1 percentage point increase in occupancy rates to 58 percent on an upswing in corporate and leisure demand. Popular Egyptian resort Sharm El Sheikh witnessed a strong recovery in demand compared to last year, when the repercussions of the Arab Spring political unrest dampened the number of tourist visitors. In January 2013, occupancy was up 9.3 percentage points to 57.2 percent. Egypt’s capital Cairo saw occupancy improve 5.9 percentage points to 43.7 percent. Continue reading
DTCM chiefs outline ambitious tourism plans
Leaders of Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) have outlined ambitious plans that are aimed at boosting the number of people visiting the emirate.Chief executive officer of strategy and tourism sector development at the DTCM Dr Ahmad Belhoul told Emirates 24/7 that money spent by holidaymakers currently accounts for five per cent of the city's gross domestic product and he is hoping this will reach double figures by 2020.Although 66 million people are expected to fly into Dubai International Airport throughout 2013, many of this number will be business travellers or merely stopping over on long-haul flights to places like Australia.Dr Belhoul hopes that a wave of exciting new projects – such as the Al Fahidi historical district redevelopment – will encourage more people to stay in the emirate. He is targeting 20 million annual visitors in the next seven years.”The average tourist in Dubai spends [between] $250 and $300 (£164 and £197) per day, with annual income generated at AED 600 million (£107 million). Our plan is to increase this number to AED 840 million by 2015,” he was quoted as saying.In order to reach its target, the DTCM is looking to diversify Dubai's tourism offerings, giving visitors a lot more to explore.Mr Belhoul continued: “In the past, the core strength in tourism has been beach holidays, shopping and sightseeing. To hit the 20 million tourist figure, we are looking at different targets where gaps remain.”The emirate will focus particularly closely on promoting sports and heritage trips and a lot of emphasis is being placed on cultural tourism too.Numerous studies have shown that Dubai is already an immensely popular place to take a holiday and the city was recently hailed as the leading destination in the Middle East at the prestigious World Travel Awards.The emirate will also benefit from the plethora of brand new upmarket hotels and resorts that are being built throughout the area. Continue reading
