Fraser Suites Doha general manager Mustapha Henini tells Louise Birchall how the new luxury serviced apartments are well positioned to capitalise on a business boom in Doha over the next decade ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Fraser Suites Doha, a luxury serviced apartments property and Frasers Hospitality’s first Qatar project, opened in September 2011 with the remit of capitalising on the growing business sector in the capital and using its commitment to service to stand out from the crowd.
The ‘crowd’ refers to the 90,000 or so units that Qatar aims to open in the lead up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, but Fraser Suites Doha general manager, Mustapha Henini, is undeterred by the competition.
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“Currently there are only 16,000 hotel units available in Doha so there’s a long way to go in the next 10 years,” says Henini, who moved to Qatar in February to take up his current role having worked at the four-star Fraser Queensgate in South Kensington, London previously.
Demand for accommodation in Qatar outweighs supply particularly when it is host to various events, Henini says, and while this is likely to change in the future if the state reaches its goal of quadrupling the number of hotel rooms, he believes there will always be room for the hotel-apartment concept.
Since opening in September, Henini says the property has been running at more than 70% occupancy with some one-year guest contracts already signed.
Average length of stay is currently hovering around the five-six night mark, but Fraser Suites Doha is targeting an average stay of 35-40 nights in the long-term to stabilise occupancy and act as a buffer for slumps in the market.
The group is at the advantage of being able to cross sell the new Doha property and its hotels already located in Bahrain and Dubai, with more to come in the Middle East in the future.
In terms of market segments, Fraser Suites Doha mostly attracts business travellers from the GCC countries, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, but Henini expects this to change in the future.
“Qatar is well known for its corporate market — 80% is corporate, 20% is leisure — but we will see the leisure market start to develop.
“The government is certainly thinking ahead. In 10 years’ time it will probably be 40-50% leisure and 50% corporate.”
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