Many hotels in Dubai, and the wider UAE, are currently reporting a drop in revenue, due to the decrease in average room rate this year.
While external economic factors are largely credited with this change in the market, Mohammed Khoori, GM of Golden Sands Hotel Apartments in Dubai, told Hotelier Middle East at ATM 2016, that the drop in rates could in fact be a positive for Dubai, in the long term.
At the Golden Sands Hotel Apartments, Khoori reports occupancy for Q1 2016 is positive, and has increased approximately 4% compared to the same period in 2015.
“Dubai has succeeded to encourage more visitors,” Khoori explains. “The aim of the Dubai government is to receive more visitors, which is happening.”
“The other thing that people see in a negative way, we see in a positive way. Yes, there is a decrease in average room rate, compared to last year. I think this is positive for the visitor. It encourages more visitors to come, which we can see in the first quarter of this year.”
“Dubai doesn’t depend on one market. It doesn’t depend on the Russian market. Dubai wants the world to come to Dubai. So, we can see a decrease in the Russian market, but we can also see an increase in markets like India and China.”
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During ATM, Khoori also told Hotelier Middle East that one of the Dubai hotel’s main aims for 2016 is finding new online travel agency partners. “We think online is the future way to do business. Every year, we see this is increasing day by day. We see a shift of people who book through travel agencies, to online. It is an easier way for the end user to approach us for the booking.”
According to Khoori, Golden Sands Hotel Apartments currently receives between 40-45% of its bookings online. Khoori predicts this percentage increasing to 80% within the next ten years.
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