Toufic Tamim, vice president sales and marketing ? Middle East for M?venpick Hotels & Resorts Management FZ-LLC Toufic Tamim, vice president sales and marketing ? Middle East for M?venpick Hotels & Resorts Management FZ-LLC


HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT HOLDINGS

Hospitality Management Holdings (HMH) continued to open hotels throughout 2010, with eight openings in the Middle East alone.

Most exciting was Corp Executive Hotel Apartments in Al Barsha, Dubai, said HMH CEO Michel Noblet, because “it was our first hotel to open its doors under the Corp brand, which has been designed keeping in mind the needs of business travellers. It has really come out as a very strong brand, extremely well received by our guests”.

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Hotels under the HMH umbrella “did quite well during March, June and October, particularly in the UAE and in KSA,” continued Noblet. “This was mainly owing to the continued marketing, steady business activities and trade shows.”
In terms of positive trends, Noblet identified more travellers coming in to Dubai from the GCC and credited Flydubai “an instant hit”.

“We had more long-stay guests as serviced apartments became a popular choice for guests. People preferred to stay in serviced apartments with all expenses paid and no strings attached rather than getting tied up to long-term rental commitments,” said Noblet.

However, he acknowledged a “massive drop in corporate business in 2010 with more and more companies choosing to hold virtual meetings”.

“Even if there were meetings these were more at regional level rather than large international gatherings. Having said that, overall business was stronger than expected, especially in the mid-market segment,” said Noblet.

HILTON WORLDWIDE

For Hilton, 2010 was a busy year in terms of both new openings and signings. The company launched the first Hilton Hotels & Resorts property in Jordan’s Dead Sea, and also took over the management of the King Hussein bin Talal Convention Centre in Jordan. Meanwhile, over the course of the year, the firm signed new properties in KSA, Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia across the Hilton Hotels & Resorts and DoubleTree by Hilton brands.

Jean-Paul Herzog, president, Middle East and Africa for Hilton Worldwide, commented: “Regionally, several Hilton Worldwide brands and hotels were recognized as best in class and Hilton Hotels and Resorts brand was voted number one in the Middle East for the fourth year running by the BDRC Continental Survey. We launched two National Sales Offices for the UAE in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, consolidating sales teams from all the hotels in the country into one cohesive team.

We also collaborated with Time Out Dubai to launch Dubai’s first downloadable city guide. Other regional highlights include the re-opening of Verre by Gordon Ramsay at Hilton Dubai Creek and a visit by the master-chef himself in October to launch the much-acclaimed chef’s table”.

On a global level he added: “we also unveiled a fresh new brand identity for our core brand Hilton Hotels & Resorts and launched eforea: spa at Hilton. Finally, with added value remaining high on the agenda we saw a big increase in membership of HHonors, our loyalty programme — we now have 26 million members”.

KEMPINSKI HOTELS

Kempinksi hit the headlines in 2010 with the opening of its first hotels in Qatar and Cairo. Kempinski Residences and Suites, Doha is a 62-floor residence tower offering 370 fully furnished serviced suites. Currently the tallest building on Qatar’s dominating West Bay skyline, at the top of this towering skyscraper is two duplex Sky Villas with six bedrooms each.

Kempinski Nile Hotel, Cairo, meanwhile, is a boutique property designed by French architect Pierre Yves Rochon with 137 rooms and 54 suites with private balconies and views of the Nile.

Ulrich T Eckhardt, president MEA, Kempinski Hotels said that Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, which he describes as “an icon in the region, with multiple, creative events that drive ongoing loyalty”, and Kempinski Mall of the Emirates in Dubai were the group’s top performing hotels in 2010.

He added: “Our typical guest is someone looking for the European individual approach to luxury that we offer — a traditional, established, wealthy traveller who favours discretion, a guest on their once in a lifetime journey, or a younger, regular business traveller who is looking for a new, exciting experience at a new destination.They choose Kempinski because of the reputation of the brand and the fact that we actually have very different properties that appeal to their individual tastes”.

The biggest guest base was Western Europeans, Arabs and Russians, and though corporate business experienced a downturn, Eckhardt said “figures have steadily risen”.