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


SOFITEL

In the past 12 months, Sofitel has launched two fantastic new properties in the Middle East, Sofitel Dubai Jumeirah Beach and Sofitel Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia, both meeting the new standards of the refined Sofitel network.

Sami Nasser, Vice President Middle East, Africa & Indian Ocean and general manager Sofitel Dubai Jumeirah Beach, said the Dubai hotel already had “a healthy mix of business and leisure, meeting demand for transient accommodation”. He added that hotels in Egypt were busiest during spring and summer, however, he said that Dubai hotels had a later peak season and were “extremely busy from September to December”.

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Leisure business has also been on the up for Sofitel, with more bookings from emerging destinations including Brazil, China, India & Eastern Europe.

The success to date of the new hotels bodes well for the future, according to Nasser.

“We are opening more than seven hotels in the region over the next two years (between 2010 and 2012). We only recently opened Sofitel Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia, which has been a big success so far.

“Next we have properties coming up in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi and a Suite-Only property in Mauritius. There are full renovations going on in our Aswan Old Cataract and Luxor Winter Palace properties in Egypt — and these truly are legendary hotels. In Dubai, we have two properties coming up for 2012 — one on Sheikh Zayed Road and one on The Palm,” he revealed.

WYNDHAM HOTEL GROUP

US company Wyndham Hotel Group made significant in-roads to the Middle East market in 2010 with five hotel openings, including the first Ramada Encore in the region, located in Doha.

Wyndham managing director EMEA Michael Poynter said it was the first branded budget hotel in Doha.

“We are proud of being the pioneers of this sector in Qatar. It is also a first as it marks the start of our transition to a company that also manages as well as being a company which franchises hotels,” he said.

“We are also very excited in entering two new markets, Sharjah and Sharm El Sheikh,” he added. In addition, Wyndham opened two properties in Dubai and inked deals for its first Wyndham branded hotels in the Middle East; the Wyndham Grand Riyadh and the Wyndham Grand Regency in Doha.

In terms of performance, Poynter identified Lebanon and Dubai as the leaders.

“Lebanon was high on the list this year. The economical and political stability boosted tourism activity in Beirut and the Ramada hotel has benefited tremendously from the current market conditions,” he said.

“we cannot ignore Dubai. Although the market was down, the absolute values (occupancy and ADR) are still at a very good level compared to the other regional markets.”