HOTELIER: There has been a lot of talk about new markets that are either opening up, or existing markets that are now being seen as having potential. Which ones are these, and what do you think about the opportunities?

ABDELLAH ESSONNI: The first market that comes to mind is Iran. It is going to open up, although I think the timing is a bit tricky. If I speak for our group, all our hotels are in Dubai right now, and we’d like to venture outside of Dubai, and this would be one of the areas we’d look at. But we’re not looking at it immediately. We’re probably going to wait and see how this global economic uncertainty pans out before we make serious steps. Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia — it’s a no-brainer, really.

ANDREW HUMPHRIES: Once it opens up, traffic to Iran will be tremendous. The potential for businesses here for Iranian markets is enormous as well.

KAI SCHUKOWSKI: Every other week, we have a request from Iranian tour operators to start doing business with us.

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STEFAN FUCHS: If this market is going to open, this is a great market. Another market is India, it’s a market we as hoteliers have neglected for inbound travel, but it’s coming. If you look at the business we generate with Indian weddings, it’s a huge market. If you look at Etihad Airways, it’s now flying its flagship airplane into Mumbai, after New York and Sydney. That tells you a story of how important this market is.

ANDREW: Saudi Arabia could be contracting quite substantially. That could be quite painful and I don’t think there’s any short-term solution — certainly three to five years of Saudi economy going through dramatic change. Change brings uncertainty, and uncertainty brings people keeping money in their pockets. The Saudi business will definitely contract, it’s hard to say by how much.

ABDELLAH: I dare say it may be the other way around because the Saudis will travel, no matter what. There’s been a reduction in government spending so we see less groups coming in from KSA. But individuals and families will still travel.

MARIA TULLBERG: I agree that the Saudi market is going down and spending is going to be less, but they’re not going to stop travelling. They’re just not going to travel as far — they will skip Europe and come here.

MARKUS ROEDER: Huge developments like entertainment and leisure parks will attract a lot of Saudis to come, eventually.

STEFAN: A lot of bookings are done already in our sister hotels and the currency plays in the favour for the Saudis because the euro lost 20-25% and shopping is still an attraction. And it’s hurting us a lot that the retail prices for us are not as competitive compared to Europe. And this is a big driver if you look at the Chinese market, and this is currently very unattractive. Saudis are very hesitant to shop here because they have 20-25% cheaper prices in Europe.