A look at the Doha skyline; the capital city is gearing up for Qatar hosting the World Cup 2022, and the hotel sector is anticipating a 50% increase in inventory within the next three years alone.
With Doha hotels generating more revenue from F&B than rooms, Caterer Middle East investigates what measures the Qatar capital’s properties are taking to distinguish themselves from the crowd
Hotel F&B in the region currently totals 37% of hotel revenue, with the potential for this to increase — it is growing by 5-10% each year, according to STR Global. It was also reported that Doha generates more revenue from F&B than room revenue.
TRI Hospitality senior consultant Chris Hewett revealed during the Hotelier Middle East Qatar Hospitality Summit that F&B RevPAR has increased by 8.5% in the last year.
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Additionally, in separate interviews with hotel general managers and F&B directors based in Doha, it was revealed that many properties were working on “new and exciting” concepts, with a few claiming these were ideas that have not yet been executed in the capital city.
With Qatar 2022 fast approaching, the capital’s hoteliers are recognising the importance of tourism and standing out from the crowd based on their F&B offering, much like what the UAE’s hotels have done over the last couple of years.
For example, Crowne Plaza Doha — The Business Park general manager Savino Leone said the hotel will be opening “a new café/restaurant at The Business Park, which will have an innovative concept and design that has not been introduced yet in Qatar”.
Grand Hyatt Doha general manager Christoph Franzen said that this month, the hotel will start focusing on The Grill.
He said: “We are working on a completely new concept for our all-day dining restaurant, The Grill. We are currently discussing various concepts, and are in the design phase of the project. While we cannot reveal too much, it will be the most innovative concept in Doha in terms of a dining venue and lounge and the name will also change. We hope to kick-off the project towards the end of the year and be operational in the first half of 2015.”
Franzen said there is no doubt that there is a lot of competition between Qatar hotels in terms of F&B. He added: “I feel there is more competition in hotels here, than in other, larger cities in the GCC. This is proven by the fact that many operators use big international names to run their outlets who are not usually associated with hotels, but have fantastic free-standing concepts.”
The InterContinental Doha has already revealed its extensive F&B plans [see page 10] with a new beach restaurant and bar, renovation to its all-day dining, along with a Belgian café and an Asian seafood venue on the cards.
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