Kempf boasts extensive industry experience and knowledge which he has collected from years of working within hospitality. His career has taken him to the UK, Europe and the UAE.
St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Inc., today announced the debut of the St. Regis brand in Dubai with the opening of The St. Regis Dubai. Owned by Al Habtoor Group, the hotel introduces uncompromising experiences with its luxurious bespoke hospitality, eight exceptional culinary venues, the first Iridium Spa in Dubai, a fleet of Bentleys as well as the first Bentley Suite in the Middle East which will be unveiled in early 2016.
The hospitality industry is undergoing a phase of dynamic transformation. This is an exciting time for hoteliers and hotel-goers around the world: a time when technologies and innovations that seemed like science fiction a few decades ago are becoming a very solid reality.
Leading German hospitality company, Steigenberger Hotel Group has opened its first property in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – the five-star, waterfront Steigenberger Hotel Business Bay in Dubai. The flagship Steigenberger Dubai is right at the heart of the city close to the iconic Burj Khalifa – the world's tallest tower and the Dubai Mall in the cosmopolitan Downtown neighbourhood. The hotel's 367 rooms include 28 suites designed for business and city leisure travellers while its four restaurants, which offer a variety of cuisine, all have fabulous views over Business Bay. There is also a banqueting and conference area – with a daylight ballroom for 450 people, four meeting room options, a board room, library and outdoor terraces. Leisure facilities include a spa, fitness centre, and pool terrace – all with panoramic city views. Underground car parking is available. Puneet Chhatwal, CEO of Steigenberger Hotels AG, commented: "This new hotel at Business Bay re-affirms our commitment to international growth in general and the Middle East in particular. "Dubai is now one of the world's leading tourism and business hubs and the perfect springboard to this important region. The new hotel is symbolic of our growing international presence at strategically important locations made possible through teaming with like-minded and expansion-oriented partners." Further Steigenberger-managed properties currently in the pipeline include the InterCityHotel Culture Village in Dubai, and the Steigenberger Hotel Airport Road Doha. Siegfried Nierhaus, Vice President Middle East, Steigenberger Hotel Group said: "It is our committed ambition to deliver and cater to our customers with a flavour of German hospitality driven by service, passion and tradition is now a reality in Dubai's Business Bay. Guests will receive the very highest quality of hotel product and service." The property is owned by Twenty14 Holdings, the hospitality investment arm of LuLu Group International, the Abu Dhabi-based retail giant. The company is focussed on acquisitions and management of assets worldwide. Adeeb Ahamed, Managing Director of Twenty14 Holding, said: "We are proud to be associated with the Steigenberger Hotel Group to bring its first five-property in the region. "Our vision is to be the most preferred hospitality company with an exclusive portfolio of world-class properties, which are unique in design, service and functionality. We believe that the new hotel truly complements our vision and will encapsulate an absolutely remarkable experience that would make it the most sought after meeting point in Dubai."
Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Worldwide's (NYSE: HLT) award-winning brand of hotels, today announced the opening of Hilton Garden Inn Dubai Al Mina, the second of three mid-scale properties to open in the city.
Graduating from the Hotel Management School in Beirut, Lebanon, Frederick has extensive experience within the hospitality industry, particularly in Food and Beverage. Although he has spent much of his career with Rotana Hotels, starting with the Towers Rotana in Dubai as Assistant Director of Food and Beverage in 2007, Frederick was also previously with the InterContinental Hotel Phoenicia Beirut and progressed from the position of Restaurant Manager to Assistant Director of Food and Beverage.
Zubin Karkaria, CEO of VFS Global, has been appointed as the CEO of Kuoni Group – VFS Global’s parent company and one of the world’s leading travel services provider – effective 05 November 2015. He is the first Indian to be appointed as the head of the 109-year old travel services company, and will concurrently continue in his function as the CEO of VFS Global. He will continue to be based in Dubai, UAE.
Emaar Hospitality Group, the hospitality subsidiary of global property developer Emaar Properties, is showcasing its luxury lifestyle brand The Address Hotels + Resorts, its boutique hotel brand Vida Hotels and Resorts while also preparing for the upcoming launch of its new mid-market brand Rove Hotels and what promises to be a new iconic building, Dubai Opera.
Today's hotel industry is one in which hoteliers strive to combine quality with cutting-edge technology in order to ensure the ultimate guest experience. This is often a difficult task to accomplish while maintaining the pursuit of a healthy profit margin. The marriage of hospitality and technology can be a rocky and expensive one, if navigated without guidance.
BurJuman Arjaan by Rotana is proud to announce the appointment of its new General Manager, Ms. Ulrike Andorff.
Is the rental format in Dubai for hotel business is changing? If so, what is the change?For decades, the Owners have been renting out the hotel building to the Investors/Tenants who has the knowhow to operate the hotel business. Investors/Tenants in turn made profits running the hotel; the Owners got their rent and both were happy. With the hospitality industry flourishing in Dubai, the Owners felt they deserve higher returns considering their investment and risk and started demanding more rent to take the share of the perceived higher profit generated by operation. This has led to conflicts and many businesses are in verge of closure due to the high rent component. Let us see this in a different perspective.Due to the flourishing hospitality business in Dubai during the year 2002 to 2008, every land owner wanted to build a hotel and rent it out; and more so when the hotel apartments were introduced to Dubai. Many of the residential apartments were converted to hotel apartments as it was giving better yield and return on investment. The Owners expected investment payback within 7 to 8 years.Although, the financial turmoil of 2009 did teach a lesson to some extent in streamlining the banking procedures for financing the real estate projects, Dubai was resilient to the crisis and came back with a big bang from 2011. Once again, the hospitality industry started picking up supported by various initiatives of the Government of Dubai.From the Owners' perspective, Hospitality industry is going great in Dubai. Every hotel has had good occupancy and the average daily rates much above other city in the world. With the occupancy rate surpassing 85% every Owner has a reason to believe that the Investor/Tenants are making higher profits than before. Thus, the Owners feel they should be compensated with a higher share of rent.From the Investor/Tenants' perspective, Yes, industry has been doing well in Dubai. The revenue generation has increased, however, the costs have also significantly risen. Thus, the ultimate, bottomline has been hit and hence unable to sustain with the hiked rent which is a fixed cost. Whether good or bad business, rent has to be paid. With the kind of rate war happening between hotels across different segments cutting each other, the Revenue Per Available Room (REVPAR) has been hit badly although the occupancies are good. This is also leading to damaging the positioning of hotels in the market.The question to ask here is, with the increase in supply of hotels, can the current rent format be sustained? The industry can sustain itself only when the "Live and let live" position is embraced by both the parties, as this is the law of nature. More transparency is required amongst the Investor/Tenants' in presenting their earnings to justify the need for reasonable rental agreements with the Owners. The time has come, where the owners also cannot expect investment payback in 8 years, they have to extend this to 11 to 14 years which is normal for hotel projects. This will help in facilitating hospitality business in the long run. This is the ideal format which can mitigate the supposed high risks for both parties. For achieving maximum benefits for both sides, a consensus for co-existing needs to be reached.The alternative for the Owner is to give the hotel building to a good Operator to run the place and for the Investor/Tenant to build his own hotel in freehold areas. The Owner still runs the risks of not received his deserved share of returns unless Operator does well; Operator contracts are more complex, and the Investor/tenant has a possibility of not being able to repay the huge debt finance that is borne by him.Having analysed this, do we leave it to these two parties to decide the best course of action? If you are undecided, we can help you through it!
Hilton Worldwide (NYSE: HLT) today celebrated the arrival of its award winning, mid-scale brand - Hilton Garden Inn into the UAE, with the unveiling of an edible Dubai skyline - created using the brand's signature breakfast waffles.
The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai has welcomed Richard Collins as its new general manager. Bringing with him more than 17 years of experience as a hotel general manager, Collins also boasts extensive resort and international operations experience from Ireland, the UK, USA and Switzerland.
In his new position, Woltering will be based in Dubai and will carry out the responsibilities of regional vice president, overseeing the overall operation, performance and strategic direction of all FRHI properties in the UAE. Adding to this, as the general manager of Fairmont Dubai, he will also hold responsibility over overseeing day-to-day operations of the hotel.
The Westin Dubai and Le Meridien Mina Seyahi Beach Resort and Marina has named Derryn French as its new EAM in charge of food and beverage and marketing across both The Westin Dubai and Le Meridien Mina Seyahi complex.
As the project paces towards completion, Starwood Hotels & Resorts introduces the management team of the three luxury hotels that it will operate in Al Habtoor City – Dubai's first-ever St. Regis (234 rooms), the UAE's first W hotel (356 rooms) and the largest Westin (1004 rooms) in the Middle East.
Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR) maintains the pace of its regional development plans by announcing the signing of Residence Inn by Marriott Al Jaddaf, a signing that marks a significant entry in the lead up to 2020 as it will be the hotel group's first property from the Residence Inn brand portfolio in the UAE. Due to be completed in 2019, the Residence Inn by Marriott Al Jaddaf will be comprised of a total of 135 units.
RoomNetTV, the leading provider of Apple TV based in-room solutions, has expanded into the Middle East with the opening of its Dubai office. Managing over 10,000 rooms globally, with clients ranging from large multi-national hotel chains to smaller luxury boutique hotels, RoomNetTV's solutions are designed to enhance guest satisfaction and loyalty. Its solutions enable hotels to differentiate themselves by offering their guests a truly unique, home- away-from-home in-room entertainment experience.
Florian Gallini, Group CEO of INTEREL, the world's fastest-growing manufacturer of integrated room technologies in the luxury hospitality industry, has been elected to the HTNG Vendor Advisory Council for a three-year term.
Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) has reached an agreement with Royal International to open its first hotel under the Curio - A Collection by Hilton brand in the UAE. Due to begin welcoming guests in 2018, the grand two-tower Rosemont Hotel and Residences, a 450-guestroom and 280-serviced apartment property, which will be developed on Dubai's Sheikh Zayed Road, will offer travellers local discoveries and authentic travel experiences indicative of the Curio brand.