Jumeirah sees festive surge at Dubai beach hotels

Dubai’s Jumeirah Group, operator of the flag-shaped Burj Al Arab, saw 90 percent occupancy across its Dubai beachfront resorts during the festive season, the company said Wednesday.

Revenue per available room (revPAR) – an industry benchmark - hit $712 at its Madinat Jumeirah, Jumeirah Beach and Jumeirah Zabeel Saray hotels between 20 Dec and 10 Jan.

Room revenues reached $1,983 at the Burj al-Arab, with occupancy rates of 80.7 percent, the company said in an emailed statement.

The jump in occupancy was in part thanks to a rise in guests from new markets, particularly in Asia, the statement said.

Overall revPAR at the group’s beach hotels rose six percent on the year-earlier period while key source markets continued to be the UK, Russia, UAE, Germany and Saudi Arabia.

The luxury hotelier, owned by Dubai’s ruler, said earlier this month it had sealed a deal to open its first hotel in Bali as it looks to grow its brand outside of its home market.

The operator said in October it planned to double its properties under management globally by early 2012. The firm, which recently opened brand-managed hotels in Frankfurt, the Maldives and Shanghai, said it planned to expand into Kuwait, Majorca and Azerbaijan.

“We will open in Kuwait, Majorca, and Azerbaijan. We will almost double the number of hotels under management for Jumeirah in a 14-month period,” Gerald Lawless, executive chairman of Jumeirah Group, told Reuters.

The group, which competes with the likes Mandarin Oriental and the Four Seasons, currently has one hotel in Asia, the Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel in Shanghai, and has a further five hotels under development in China.