Following an industry-wide slump in occupancy levels in the last quarter of 2009, some of the leading hotels in Dubai have reported a comeback during Dubai Shopping Festival that concludes on February 28.
“We can feel the recovery and indeed we are very optimistic for 2010. I am glad to announce that our properties in Dubai – all 11 hotels – are running close to cent per cent occupancy rates during DSF 2010,” said Naeem Darkazally, Area Director of Sales and Marketing, Rotana Dubai & Northern Emirates.
Luxury hotel Kempinski Mall of the Emirates reported receiving a very good response to its F&B and shopping room package tailored especially for the emirate’s annual shopping festival celebrations. “The shopping room package has sold very well,” said Naser Fawzi, Sales and Marketing Manager. “We started February with a slight increase in occupancy, and we expect to close February with at least five percent (5%) higher occupancy than 2009.”
DSF has traditionally been a boon for the tourism industry in Dubai during the festival period. Last year, before the shopping festival, Kempinski just had a 65 percent occupancy level. When the festival ended, its occupancy rate had jumped to 75 percent.
Southern Sun, operators of Al Manzil and Qamardeen hotels, is optimistic their occupancy levels will surpass last year’s figure. “This year, we are cautiously optimistic that we will finish this shopping festival period eight percent (8%) ahead of last year’s occupancy rate,” said Ruth Hulatt, Complex Director of Sales and Marketing.
The influx of tourists to Dubai hotels during DSF is driven mainly by visitors from the GCC. According to Fawzi, Kempinski’s biggest feeder market is Saudi Arabia, followed by the other emirates mainly Abu Dhabi, and then Qatar and Kuwait.
In the case of Southern Sun, whose Al Manzil property recently topped Trip Advisor’s Popularity Index in Dubai, their visitor profile consists mainly of visitors from the GCC (35 percent), Europe (40 percent), and the rest from Asia, Africa, the Americas and Oceania.
Many hotels have had to slash rates to lure in more tourists, but the bigger lure has been the shopping discounts, rewarding promotions and a variety of cultural and artistic events that DSF puts together every year.
To complement these offers, organisers Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment (DEPE), in cooperation with its retail, tourism and hospitality partners, also launched a ‘Discounted Travel to Dubai for DSF 2010’ package – an exciting travel initiative to encourage visitor inflow to Dubai during the upcoming DSF 2010, with a special focus on families.
“The new travel initiative was a concerted attempt by the hospitality, tourism and retail sectors to give a boost to visitor inflows, and is a significant example of how the Government works in close coordination with the private sector to drive economic growth,” said Laila Suhail, CEO, DEPE.
The special travel package offered a staggering 40 percent discount on hotel rack rates, as well as special airfares, complimentary breakfasts, shopping vouchers from participating malls, complimentary airport and shopping mall transfers. Hotel rates for this promotion will be the lowest that hotels will distribute through B2B channels during the period.
“Certainly Dubai has become a far more attractive option with very affordable and competitive packages available,” Hullat added.
According to Darkazally, guests staying across Rotana hotels in Dubai have come for both leisure and business, lured by the great shopping, leisure and entertainment offers of the city. “In addition to DSF and other promotional initiatives by DEPE, the efforts made by the Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) along with Emirates airline contributed towards better tourism performance in the last year,” Darkazally pointed out.
Looking ahead, Fawzi anticipates a 7-10 percent increase in occupancy levels for Kempinski during the festival period, which ends next week while the DEPE travel package hopes it will help boost occupancy levels across 35 participating hotels.
