The Rocco Forte Collection, Europe’s largest luxury hotel group, shared with the Middle East’s travel trade and media new insights into the tastes and trends of UAE and other Gulf residents who travel to Europe during a series of events in the GCC this past week. The hotel group’s management is further developing its relationships and building awareness in the Middle Eastern markets ahead of opening a 280 room property in Abu Dhabi at the end of 2009 and a 198 room property in Jeddah in 2010.
Several of The Rocco Forte Collection’s senior management team hosted a series of trade luncheons and meetings with regional hospitality experts, in addition to small groups of exclusive media, which culminated today in Dubai, to highlight the Collection’s forthcoming launch in the Middle East and its already well-established name across Europe.
“We are seeing robust growth as well as repeat leisure and business travel coming from Gulf residents across our European properties, and are compiling data to better help the industry understand the specific tastes and desires of travellers from these markets,” said Mark Allvey, the Collection’s Global Sales Director at the final leg of the Gulf roadshow in Dubai.
“The current economic climate provides us with a key opportunity to discuss trends in high-end travel from the Middle East to Europe and the best way to address the needs of The Rocco Forte Collection’s guests in the coming months,” he added.
The Gulf is continuing to grow as a key outbound travel destination, currently ranking 10th in terms of hotel bookings worldwide. With this in mind, The Rocco Forte Collection has tailored services specifically to the Arab market in many of its properties, including: Arabic speaking staff, a selection of Arabic channels and newspapers, Arabic menus, and Halal dining in its restaurants.
According to a recent study the growth of travel from and within the Middle East is increasing significantly, with more than US$30 billion spent per year by Middle Eastern travellers in international markets. Outbound travel from the UAE into Europe has increased by 20% this past summer compared to the same time last year, and outbound trips from the Middle East in general are expected to double between 2005 and 2020.
“We have seen a 100% year on year increase in traffic from the Middle East with Saudi Arabia and the UAE topping the list of growth – UAE is 260 % up year on year across all our hotels – some hotels, for example Brown’s in London, have seen growth of more than 400% from the Middle East,” Allvey explained.
“This increase at Brown’s Hotel reflects the fact that the UK is the second most popular destination for UAE travellers to visit after the Far East and Germany and Switzerland follow soon after.
We have also seen a increase in excess of 200% from the UAE to the Hotel Astoria in St Petersburg – predominately due to business trips,” he added.
The Collection is set to open two new properties in the Middle East: The first in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi at the end of 2009, and the second in the port city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – on Tahlia Street in the heart of the city in 2010.
Allvey and a number of his colleagues from Brown’s Hotel in London, The Charles Hotel in Munich and other properties within The Rocco Forte Collection met with outbound tourism heads as well as media to build further links between luxury destinations in Europe and the Gulf.
The Rocco Forte Collection was established in 1996 to create a group of luxury hotels in Europe. The hotel collection currently comprises 11 properties, soon to be 16. Each hotel has an individual style reflecting its nationality and location, designed by Sir Rocco Forte’s sister, renowned interior specialist, Olga Polizzi. The properties are linked together under The Rocco Forte Collection, which guarantees attention to detail, quality, and service delivery.
