The Hotelier Middle East Qatar General Manager Debate 2013, held at the Grand Hyatt Doha hotel, was a chance for the hotel community to come together and discuss the hot topics that are shaping the hospitality industry in Qatar.
The Hotelier Middle East Qatar GM Debate 2013 raised the need for greater cooperation between hoteliers to make the most of their emerging market and debated exactly where the country’s new wave of tourism infrastructure investment should be spent.
In its third year, the annual Hotelier Middle East Qatar GM Debate brought together general managers from across the country, providing a platform for hospitality leaders to discuss the opportunities and challenges of the coming year.
The event, which was held at the Grand Hyatt Doha on 10 April, comprised a series of panel discussions and workshops featuring hotel executives from distinguished brands and other hospitality professionals.
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Debates covered a variety of topics including the potential of the Qatar hospitality market — with a keen eye on future sporting events; how to offer value in the market without cutting rates, maximising a hotel’s F&B potential and how to develop a world-class hospitality team.
Doha by Numbers
However, before the debates could begin, it was up to Chris Hewett, senior consultant at TRI Hospitality Consulting to deliver the event’s opening presentation and update the attendees on some of Qatar’s performance figures from the last 12 months.
Hewett said occupancy levels in Qatar had “plateaued” at 58%. This, Hewett explained, was in part due to a summer occupancy level that fell last year below 40% and is in stark contrast to a market such as Dubai where occupancy levels manage to stay relatively constant all year round.
However, it was not all doom and gloom as despite struggling occupancy levels, the market’s average room rate (ARR) had still managed to remain high at QAR 830 (US $228), with Doha having the second highest gross operating profit (GOP) in the region.
Looking to the future Hewett said: “It looks as if Doha will get one of the largest influxes of supply in the region with approximately 45,000 new hotel rooms expected on the market by 2017. However, we are also predicting a 15.9% annual growth in visitor numbers that will keep market occupancy levels relatively constant.”
Hewett also highlighted the growth in the midscale hotel market which, “could potentially put pressure on the established five-star market as four-star hotels attempt to position themselves slightly under the five-star by cutting rates”.
“Another major development for the hospitality market is that the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has announced it plans to invest QAR 72 billion ($20 billion) into tourism infrastructure, However, there are as yet no real plans or indication exactly how or where this money will be spent and this could of course have a real impact on the leisure or conference markets here in Doha,” concluded Hewett.
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