Oded Lifschitz, the highest-ranking Israeli in the global Hilton chain, says the surveys are useless, and he isn't afraid of the Internet, either. When Oded Lifschitz walks down the street and sees an old building, he automatically wonders if it could be transformed into a boutique hotel. That's where his heart is. Lifschitz, UK and Israel area vice president for Hilton Worldwide, loves old buildings with a rich history that can be reinvigorated.
Manchise Contracts have been adopted by Citymax Hotels as a new management concept for hotel owner/developers in the Middle East, offering flexible solutions as an alternative to traditional long term management agreements.
Olery, the leading provider of guest experience management tools for the hospitality industry, announced today that is has signed a deal with the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority to provide them with the technology behind their recently announced next step in in their hotel classification system.
The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, Abu Dhabi, has unveiled the resort’s flagship Royal Suite, the largest hotel suite in the United Arab Emirates. Spanning a lavish 2,100 square metres with four bedrooms, the duplex occupies the top two floors of the resort’s west wing and is priced at AED 130,000 per night.
Marking the conclusion of Starwood’s month-long relocation to Dubai, Frits van Paasschen, President & CEO of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., today shared highlights and insights from the company’s immersion in the Middle East.
With a stellar performance in the first quarter of 2011 under their belts, hotel management in Dubai is expectant of a resumption of business as usual following the downturn — although challenges remain relating to rates and competition. Kathi Everden reports.
The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), Dubai Government’s tourism licensing and promotional body, today announced the launch of a new hotel classification scheme that broadens the existing system in line with the organisation’s vision to guide the emirate’s growing tourism industry. While the hotels have been categorised under 1-5 star ratings, the new classification system added a Budget hotel category that has been kept outside the 1-5 star-rating. The new scheme also added a number of new criteria in the classification, including Resorts, Guest House, Timeshare, Youth Hostel, Self-Catering and University Campus accommodations.
So we’re guessing that Egypt isn’t top of your must do travel list for the near future, because although things are looking a lot better for the remaining tourists than the locals, the situation sounds nothing if not grim.
Hilton Worldwide has commenced management of Jordan's Dead Sea King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre, one of the largest convention centre's in the Middle East region. The reflagged convention centre will now operate under the Hilton Hotels & Resorts brand. With almost 5,000 square meters of meeting space and 23,000 square meters of build-up area spread over 25 conference and meeting rooms and three floors, King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre is one of the largest in the region.
Hotel star ratings have been adapting to an ever-changing tourism landscape, but experts have been wondering if they hide the real value of brands. Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) last month said they were thinking of changing the criteria of the star-rating system for hotel standards. This followed the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority's move to expand its hotel classification system to recognise properties which may exceed five stars
The economy may be contracting, developers may not be being paid and rents and freehold prices may be in freefall but, roughly half-way through a critical season, tourism in Dubai is holding up reasonably well.
Dubai-based Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts is planning to expand into Saudi Arabia, said the executive chairman, Gerald Lawless. The luxury hotel management company, which is part of Dubai Holding, has “a number of leads and negotiations going on right now in Saudi”, Mr Lawless said. “Saudi Arabia is very important for us. I certainly believe very strongly in Saudi Arabia as having great potential for corporate travel and for leisure travel, and of course you have religious tourism, which is a major factor as well.” Analysts have highlighted Saudi Arabia as an important market for hoteliers and hotel investors. “The Saudi market is one of the less hit by the crisis because of the financing model and Sharia-compliant way of doing finance and business,” said Amine Hamdani, vice president of CBRE Hotels Middle East. “There is still tremendous liquidity; the economy is still doing very well.