Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort is undergoing an AED 25 million (US $6.8 million) refurbishment, including a complete redesign of rooms. Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort is undergoing an AED 25 million (US $6.8 million) refurbishment, including a complete redesign of rooms.

FUJAIRAH
With more than 2777 operational rooms across 20 hotels, and 698 hotel apartments, Fujairah has always drawn local and international tourists with its beaches and small town feel. However, that is all about to change, as the emirate gears up to add an additional 1700 units by the end of the year.

There are at least five new hotels and resorts by international groups at various stages of development in Fujairah, including the Ibis Fujairah Town Centre, the Novotel Fujairah Town Centre, the Fairmont Fujairah, the InterContinental Fujairah Resort, and the Adagio Fujairah Town Centre.

“Fujairah, as an emirate, is growing and the tourism and hospitality industry is enjoying its fair share,” says Patrick Antaki, complex general manager of Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort in Fujairah, and Al Maha, A Luxury Collection Desert Resort and Spa in Dubai.

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“A report showed that in the first quarter of 2013, tourist influx in Fujairah was already 17% higher than the same quarter in 2012. One of the reasons for this is the growing popularity of Fujairah as a destination in general, for beach holidays specifically,” he explains.

“The growth is seeing more and more foreign investment in the emirate, resulting in many more hotels to be added in the near future,” he adds.

Among Fujairah’s key selling points is its coastline, which extends 90km along the Gulf of Oman and it is the only emirate to be situated on the Indian Ocean. This makes for some unique offerings like diving along the coast with a variety of natural coral reefs, some which are indigenous to the region.

The emirate also enjoys the highest rainfall in the country, making it an ideal weekend destination for local tourists all year round due to its comparatively pleasant weather, which promotes outdoor activities like water sports and mountain and wadi treks.

The Fujairah Tourism & Antiquities Authority (FTAA) has been hard at work promoting the destination — the result of which has been a staggering 60% increase in tourist numbers from 2011 to 2012.

“In 2011 there were an estimated 750,000 tourists in the emirate and then 2012 saw a 60% increase due to increased efforts of the FTAA, to 1.2 million overnight tourists in the emirate. This, year Fujairah’s hotels have witnessed at least a 15% increase in occupancy as well as an increase in the average daily rate,” says Antaki.

For now, the emirate’s key tourism markets are Asia, Russia, the UK and USA, with the coastal city attracting families to its various beach resorts. “70% of the guests welcomed at the beach front properties are foreigners, whereas in the city hotels, the foreign guest ratio is 30%,” says Antaki.

Noticing the trend of more families choosing to holiday in the emirate, new and existing hotels are making sure their development or refurbishment plans include the family and events segment.

For instance, Iberotel Miramar Al Aqah Beach Resort announced it would be adding a water park and convention centre to the property, both of which should be in operation in 2014. The convention centre, which will replace the small facility already at the resort, will be used for banqueting and meetings. 

“We believe that there is a lot of demand on that part which we are missing now. What we have now is a meeting room that takes 150 people, so we are looking to build a bigger facility to serve such segments of the market,” says general manager Ashraf Helmy.

The sentiment is echoed by Al Hayat’s Ahmed Aldous, who reveals the group is developing a 270-key five-star property on Fujairah’s coastline.

“The Al Hayat Resort and Spa will feature the largest ballroom on the East Coast with a capacity of 800, to cater for the wedding market in the emirate,” reveals Aldous, adding that the resort is due to open by Eid Al Fitr the following year.

Similarly, the Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort, which recently completed 10 years of operation, is undergoing an AED 25 million (US $6.8 million) refurbishment to keep up with the competition.

“This refurbishment will include a complete overhaul of the bedrooms, including a complete re-design, encompassing the new Le Meridien brand design concepts and our great local touches, making them the newest and of the highest quality in the area.

In the past year, Le Meridien Al Aqah has seen a great response to our efforts. Our occupancy reached as high as 92%, which was the highest in the region,” says Antaki.

With all the developments underway, the FTAA is confident of the emirate’s growth, but Antaki realises that while a good weekend destination, Fujairah is still not as sought after a destination as some other emirates.

“The key challenge we [operators] face on an international scale is exposure. Fujairah, as a destination by itself is absolutely superb, but in the international market, Fujairah’s exposure is not as great as say Dubai or Abu Dhabi,” Antaki admits.

“That said, there are steps being taken and in the pipeline to increase Fujairah’s international exposure. The FTAA is working on innovative strategies to make Fujairah an unrivalled destination on its own.

We started a joint initiative, back in 2011 to encourage French investment opportunities in the tourism and cultural development of Fujairah and we should be able to see the fruits of the successful ventures soon,” he states optimistically.