Welcome to HotelierMiddleEast.com's rolling live coverage of day three of Arabian Travel Market 2014. We'll bring you all the latest announcements from the event at Dubai World Trade Centre, exclusive news and essential industry gossip...
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05.50pm: Once again, we come to the end of the day at Arabian Travel Market. as you can see below and the next few pages, it's been another busy few hours at DWTC, with plenty of news and announcements. One more day to!
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05.40pm: Planet Group's hospitality division have lots going on at the moment with two new heritage collection clusters under negotiation. If confirmed, one will open in Sharjah in October this year and the other is to be in Al Ain, with Planet Group currently weighing up options. Additionally, the group is to own a new project near ADNEC, Abu Dhabi - a two-tower complext with a 397 room hotel and 410 unit appartment block. The hotel will be internationally operated but the operator hasn't been confirmed as of yet. We look forward to an announcement soon!
05.35pm: Hotelier caught up with David Shackleton, chief operating officer of Dusit Thani who revealed some really exciting new developments. Apparently the group's operating portfolio is to tripple in the next five years with forty new hotels in China coming on line. In the Middle East, the company is going to have a new sales office in Jeddah and hotels are in the negotiations stage for Makkah, Jeddah and Riyadh. Also a first venture to the ME for the Dusit D2 brand is to be signed for a Dubai location within the next month - keep your eyes peeled for our story!
04.55pm: Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group president and CEO Wolfgang Neumann has criticised Dubai’s new tourism levy as potentially “hindering” business. Speaking to Arabian Business, he said it went against Dubai’s mantra of promoting the emirate as a top destination. “We view it ... with caution because essentially it’s not trade and business enhancing but could well be seen as obviously a hindering point,” he said.
04.30pm: Calling all Middle East hoteliers: Have you completed our Salary Survey yet? So far 67% of respondents have said that salaries will not increase at the same rate as the cost of living following the Expo win – can this be true? We’ve asked a few opinions at ATM....For example, Anders Dimblad, regional general manager at Banyan Tree Ras Al Khaimah said that the win has already affected the cost of resources for hoteliers in terms of staff housing and this is something hoteliers have to start guarding against with long term rental agreements and retention plans to keep down recruitment costs. What do you think? Have your say now before the deadline tomorrow (May 8)! Click here to complete the survey.
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