Hotel guests in Dubai looking for some relief from the desert heat will have a luxurious way to escape: The planned Rosemont Hotel & Residences will include a 75,000-square-foot (6,968-square-meter) rainforest, complete with a sand- free beach and stream.
DAMAC Properties Chairman Hussain Sajwani announces launch of another Dubai icon and one of Dubai's largest real estate projects on the Sheikh Zayed road overlooking the Dubai Canal
With its opening in the UAE capital just a few months away, Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Al Maryah Island is now confirming reservations for arrivals beginning May 1, 2016. Inspired by the city's modern Arabic aesthetic, the 34-story glass tower shimmers with a pattern of long vertical "baguettes" in the vibrant colours of textile displays in local souks. A beautiful design detail, they are also among many environmentally advanced, energy-saving features of the all-new building.
RIU Hotels & Resorts and Dubai master developer Nakheel have formally signed their business partnership agreement. Ali Rashid Lootah, Chairman of one of the Middle East's biggest developers, travelled to Mallorca to sign the joint venture agreement with Luis Riu, CEO of RIU Hotels.
Counting down to its opening later this year, Four Seasons introduces the General Manager and senior executive team of the all-new Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Al Maryah Island, its first hotel in the UAE capital.
Charged with personally interviewing every candidate to find those special people who are now becoming the staff at Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi, Ramirez was most recently at the flagship Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane, and has previously worked at Four SeasonsHotel Doha.
Originally from Spain, Garcia has been with Four Seasons since 2000, rising through the ranks in sales and marketing and revenue management. Now overseeing much of the guest experience at Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi, the multi-lingual hotelier is also a graduate of the prestigious hotel management program at Cornell University.
New to Four Seasons, Greybanks is no stranger to the region, having worked for several international hotel companies in the Middle East for more than ten years. Originally from the UK, she is an exceptional sales and marketing professional with strong contacts all over the world.
World Travel Awards (WTA) has unveiled the nominees for its upcoming Middle East Gala Ceremony 2016.
Amwaj Rotana Jumeirah Beach - Dubai has welcomed Hossam El Said as its director of food and beverage (F&B).
Jumeirah Group, the Dubai-based luxury hotel company and a member of Dubai Holding, has appointed Seema Pande in a consultancy capacity as Director of Sales at Burj Al Arab Jumeirah. Seema joins from The Address Hotels and Resorts where she was Group Director of Sales and Marketing for Emaar Hospitality Group overseeing The Address Hotels + Resorts, Armani Hotels and Resorts and Vida Hotels. Her previous experience in Dubai includes roles at Emaar Hospitality Group; Al Manzil and Qamardeen hotels in Downtown and the Fairmont Dubai.
FRHI Hotels & Resortshas appointed Bastien Blanc to oversee sales and marketing for the global hotel company’s activity in the Middle East, Africa, and India. Blanc, who takes on the title of vice president, sales & marketing, MEAI, brings over 24 years of international hospitality experience to this position including his most recent position as vice president, sales, marketing & development, Russia & CIS at Interstate Hotels. Over the course of his career, Blanc has held several senior management and general manager positions with AccorHotels.
Abu Dhabi, UAE -- Rotana, one of the leading hotel management companies in the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Eastern Europe, has revealed plans to further expand its presence in the United Arab Emirates. The company is set to open 9 new hotels in the UAE over the next five years, including 4 properties in the capital Abu Dhabi and another 5 properties in Dubai, Guy Hutchinson, the company's Chief Operating Officer, stated during the hotel group's 2016 GCC Roadshow.
The new properties include five under the "Rotana Hotels & Resorts" brand, three under the "Arjaan hotel apartments by Rotana" brand, and one under Rotana's lifestyle affordable hotel brand, "Centro by Rotana". Together, these hotels will add 3,598 keys to the company's existing 9,584-strong room count in the UAE only, and will take the total number of Rotana properties in the UAE to 44 by 2020.
The Rotana Hotels 2016 GCC Road Show saw the region's premier hotel group signal its intent to consolidate its already formidable presence in the GCC, with a string of new projects in key markets including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE. Rotana announced the opening of five new hotels in KSA in 2016, three new hotels in Qatar and one new hotel in Kuwait by the end of 2018, in addition to the 9 properties announced for the UAE market.
The Rotana Hotels 2016 GCC Road Show had kicked off in Jeddah on January 31 and covered major cities around the Gulf including Riyadh, Al Khobar, Jeddah, Doha, Kuwait and Dubai before concluding in Abu Dhabi.
"The GCC remains the largest source market for Rotana properties in the UAE and elsewhere, and with intra-regional travel on the rise and accounting for a larger share of visitor spend than ever before, now is the perfect time for Rotana to strengthen our relationships with our travel trade partners and share updates on our expansion plans for the region," Hutchinson said.
With the decline in Ruble having had a major impact on spending by tourists from Russia, and with the Chinese economy slowing down sharply, Hutchinson said that Rotana is looking to increased tourist arrivals from the GCC to help the UAE hospitality industry maintain its growth pace in 2016. "The shift in the UAE's feeder market dynamic due to challenging global economic conditions has brought GCC travellers into sharper focus than ever before," he said.
Noting that 37% of Rotana's room nights and 40% of Rotana's room revenue are generated from the GCC region, Hutchinson stated that the company has been seeing an increase of more than 8% year on year.
"We are very optimistic about the outlook for the UAE and GCC tourism sector in 2016. Although the market environment continues to remain challenging, we see many positive trends and developments that could yet propel hospitality growth in the region in the year ahead – such as increased infrastructure spending by GCC governments, continuing rise in intra-regional travel percentage, and the rapid growth of MICE tourism," he said.
The increase in intra-regional travel, Hutchinson remarked, can only mean good things for the UAE, the Middle East's premier economic and tourist hub and home to the largest number of Rotana properties in the region. "With demand from tourists increasing, there is renewed investor confidence in the UAE's hospitality market. Abu Dhabi is projected to post a healthy RevPAR growth in 2016, while Dubai, which is set to add a further 28,000 hotel rooms by 2018, too is expected to witness greater occupancy rate in the year ahead," Hutchinson said.
Dubai attracted over 14.2 million overnight visitors in 2015, remaining on track towards its goal of attracting 20 million visitors per year by 2020, while in Abu Dhabi 3.8 million people checked into hotels last year. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, investments related to travel and tourism in the UAE touched AED 21 billion in 2015, or 6.2 per cent of the overall investments, and this figure is expected to rise by 9.7 per cent this year and by 5.1 per cent annually over the next 10 years to AED 37.8 billion in 2024.
Hutchinson singled out the aviation sector as a key driver of business and tourism growth in the UAE and GCC. "The aviation sector contributes to diverse industries by facilitating their growth and supporting their operations, and the connectivity and convenience provided by air transport has increased the opportunities for both leisure and business travellers to experience a host of cultures and geographic markets. Investments in expanding airports, such as the AED 117.5 billion expansion of Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central, will further drive international tourist arrivals, and we at Rotana look forward to continue working closely with various airlines, tourism bodies and other stakeholders in the UAE and the region to drive tourism growth."
Commenting on the top hospitality trends expected in the Middle East in 2016, Hutchinson said, "The Millennials, or the next-generation travellers, have been the latest focus for the industry. We're seeing a lot of growth in that area and then they're influencing the older generations as well. Rotana has been pioneering e-commerce-focused innovations in the Middle East hospitality industry. Furthermore, we have developed a Rotana Mobile App which has posted a 20% increase in monthly mobile bookings in 2015, delivering a significant return on investment in developing the mobility platform."
Rotana currently manages more than 100 hotels in the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Eastern Europe, with an aggressive expansion plan for the future.
Rania will oversee marketing, advertising, public relations and internal and external communications. She will also work on identifying and pursuing opportunities with multiple media communication platforms and manage executions to promote the beach hotel and arrange promotions and activities to generate revenues for the property’s food and beverage outlets.
Heikkinen joins Fairmont Dubai from Raffles Dubai, where he began work as executive sous chef in 2012, and was subsequently promoted to executive chef for the hotel in 2013.
Jannah Hotels and Resorts is to start construction on a new five-star hotel that will make the reception check-in queue a thing of the past.
Copthorne Hotel Dubai has appointed Hertz Langdet Martin as its new HR Manager. Prior to her new position, Hertz worked as an HR Consultant for a hotel company in Dubai & Abu Dhabi. With 10 years HR experience, Hertz has served various 4 and 5 star hotels in the UAE in senior positions including HR Manager/Director HR roles. During the course of her career, she has been overseeing a variety of tasks from running skills training, to setting up new departments in pre-opening phases of hotels as well as supporting day-to-day HR operations and strategic planning.
Bassam Zakaria has been appointed as the new resident manager of Millennium Corniche Hotel Abu Dhabi.
The three-year old property opened in 2013 in the capital's commercial district. Ibrahim brings more than twenty years of experience to his new role at Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi and was previously executive assistant manager at Sheraton Jumeirah Beach Resort in Dubai for four and a half years.
Hyatt International EAME/SWA has appointed Christian Pertl as regional vice president of sales operations for Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Middle East and Africa.