The Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) recently unveiled the Sharjah Tourism Vision, aiming to attract more than 10 million tourists by 2021. Unlike nearby emirates Dubai and Abu Dhabi that have focused on mega projects to attract tourists, Sharjah is relying on its charm as the cultural capital of the UAE to increase its share of visitors.
However, while Sharjah was named the cultural capital of the Arab World by UNESCO in 1998, Islamic cultural capital in 2014 and Arab tourism capital in 2015, there are many challenges facing budget and mid-market hoteliers entering the market. “The oversupply of hotel rooms in neighbouring Dubai is creating more affordable and attractive hotel options in the emirate, taking business away from Sharjah,” says Premier Inn Hotels head of operations Roudi Soubra.
Premier Inn international, the UK’s biggest hotel brand has partnered with Action Hotels, a developer of economy hotels in the Middle East and Australia to open the first mid-scale property in Sharjah. There are currently nine Premier Inn hotels across the United Arab Emirates and India with plans to grow to 50 hotels (10,000 rooms) across the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia by 2018. Premier Inn Sharjah, on King Faisal Street, with its 168 rooms, opened on August 12 2015, making it Premier Inn’s sixth property in the region, and the first in Sharjah.
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“There is great demand for budget and mid-scale hotel brands like Premier Inn in UAE. This has led us to high occupancy in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi; Sharjah will be no different,” says Soubra. Despite the initial challenges facing the brand entering the crowded UAE market, Soubra is confident of the long term potential. “Economy hotel popularity is growing among travellers so much that various full service international and local operators are introducing their mid-scale product here in the UAE.” However, he admits Premier Inn is a new brand entering a saturated market and it might take a little time to generate loyalty and familiarity. Soubra also notes Sharjah is experiencing growth from emerging markets including GCC, China and India, which he is optimistic will present future opportunities for mid-market sector growth.
“GCC nationals make 40% of our arrival figures at present, with Saudi Arabia and Oman topping the list, and the Indian market accounting for 8%. We also have a small number of Chinese nationals that have stayed with us, but this is a market segment we are very interested in growing.” British nationals also regularly feature in the top three nationalities at Premier Inn hotels in the UAE reaching 10% of total arrivals, Soubra adds.
Soubra acknowledges that the brand had to make a strong initial impact in the region. “It was hard to compete with the well-established brands,” he says, noting that Premier Inn Sharjah also benefits from the ground work done by having established properties in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. “Premier Inn Sharjah opened mid-August which is a time when everyone is fighting for business,” he adds. “In order to start attracting interest we had to create packages with added service for a short period of time to drive clients to visit and test the property.” Packages and services included free breakfast, buy one night and get the other free deals, breakfast and dinner discounts, free shuttle bus options and laundry discounts. “The results of these activities are obvious, just three months after opening we finished the month of November 2015 with 58% occupancy.”
Premier Inn Sharjah also has a two-tiered pricing structure, featuring “Premier Saver” (slightly discounted, non-refundable rate that requires an advanced booking) and “Premier Flexible” (refundable rate with cancellation allowed until 1 pm on the day of arrival). Soubra is confident that this pricing structure allows the hotel to remain highly competitive while offering great value for money compared to other mid-market brands in the emirate.
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