Qatar’s ban on the sale of alcohol at bars and restaurants on its flagship Pearl Doha development is said to have boosted hotel business as thirsty customers head their way.
“The alcohol ban has put a few operators on the Pearl into turmoil understandably, but we’re happy to take the guests,” Simon Lazarus, senior area director of food & beverage, Hilton Worldwide, Middle East & Africa told Hotelier Middle East.
The hotel chain is due to open its Hilton Doha hotel in the West Bay area on April 15.
| Advertisement |
‘We’re opening in Doha and we know it’s going to benefit [us], we talk to our friendly competition there and we see it’s definitely driven business their way,” added Lazarus.
Last month, Dubai hospitality consultancy managing partner Guy Wilkinson said that Qatar’s move to ban alcohol could be the start of a GCC-wide crackdown.
“Qatar is hardly the first Gulf state in which the local population has expressed its concerns over the sale of alcohol,” observed Wilkinson.
“Following the Arab Spring, I expect Muslim parties to have more and more influence over the control of alcohol throughout the region.”
However, Lazarus said he thought this was unlikely, especially in the more mature Middle East F&B markets such as Dubai where an increasing number of licensed independent outlets were putting pressure on hotels “to raise the bar”.
“I see a reverse trend. Dubai has allowed places like Dubai International Financial Centre and Festival City to gain licences. As long as people respect the privilege of having that and being able to conduct their businesses accordingly, I can’t see why there would be any move to change that,” he asserted.
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
