A sense of adventure

Making the most of the region's natural assets and adding a few man-made ones, the Middle East is an adventure tourism destination in the making. Lucy Taylor considers if the region can hold its own in this lucrative globally-established market.

Climbing a sheer cliff face, swimming through shark-infested waters or driving at break-neck speed across sand dunes may not be everyone's idea of a holiday, but it certainly appeals to an increasing number of today's travellers.

Adventure tourism is a growing phenomenon - and one which savvy hotels are making the most of.

 

Whether working with surrounding natural resources or creating man-made adventures, more and more properties in the Middle Easy are catering to this market.

The MENA region's adventurous leisure options available today manifest themselves in a variety of ways, from whale spotting at Zamani Zanzibar Kempinski in Tanzania or mountain biking in the Hajar Mountain range near Hatta Fort Hotel to snowboarding at the indoor ski slope Ski Dubai next to Kempinski Mall of the Emirates - and demand for holidays of this ilk is growing.

Not for the faint-hearted

As more and more hotels are demonstrating, successfully catering for adventure tourism is predominantly about playing to your strengths as a property.

At the Zamani Zanzibar Kempinski in Tanzania, for example, the stunning natural surroundings lend themselves perfectly to adventurous activities.

"We offer a wide range of active sports and activities such as deep sea diving, quad races, ocean kayaking, kite surfing, deep sea fishing, whale spotting, swimming with the dolphins and cross-country motorbike rides," says general manager Puneet Singh. And with unique selling points such as the island's famous spice farms and the Jozani Forest, home to the Red Colobus monkey, the property is certainly not short of material for unique excursion options.

"We offer all activities that are possible on and from the island," Singh concludes.

But success in this market does not necessarily come down to relying on what nature has provided, as the new Atlantis, The Palm property situated on Dubai's man-made island The Palm Jumeirah demonstrates.

Set to open this month, the awe-inspiring property has been created to offer something for everyone, as the property's senior vice president/general manager, hotel operations Amadeo Zarzosa is quick to point out.

"It goes without saying for adventurous tourists there's Aquaventure. That's our water park, which includes the Leap of Faith, our 27.5m vertical slide which takes you into a shark tank - now that's an adventure!" says Zarzosa.

"We have all sorts of water slides and rapids - that whole park is really an adventure on its own. But we also have an excellent beach where you can do water sports," he continues.

"You can't do motorized activities because of The Palm regulations - they want to keep it pristine. But you've still got a range of water sports available, such as windsurfing and kayaking, and trips such as deep sea fishing can be arranged through our concierge.

"Then we have Dolphin Bay, home to 28 bottlenose dolphins, where people can swim with them and interact with them. And the great thing is that you don't just go to see the dolphins, you go for a whole experience with the dolphins, a whole education."

With the region's warm weather and excellent beaches, it's understandable that water sports and water-related activities should be the most developed - and most popular - field of adventure tourism at the moment.

As a result, it's important for hotels providing such options to mark themselves out in some way, as complex general manager for Le Méridien Mina Seyahi Beach Resort and Marina and the Westin Dubai Michael Scully explains.

"We've got all the basic resort leisure options: sailing, wakeboarding, water skiing, things like that. Then we've also got a series of yachts, from catamarans to our two 35-foot Achenbaults - the fastest sailing boats in their class (class two) in the world.

"The whole idea of these was to set up Americas Cup-style racing. So if you're a company on a corporate excursion and you want to do something a bit competitive and team-building, it's great," he says. "That's really our key difference, which no one else has; and it's been very successful."

But adventurous guests will not be limited to water sports.

"We've been looking at things like climbing frames, we've already introduced helicopter trips, we're tying up with a company that does sea plane trips, we're looking at doing trips to Musandam in Oman with overnight boat races - so there's a lot of things that we've got planned, and they will be quite exciting if they come off," Scully says.
 

Similarly, Le Méridien Al Aqah plays to its strengths and makes the most of its fantastic position on the Fujairah coast. Now in its sixth year of operation, the property has had the time to build up an impressive portfolio of adventurous activities.

"We have a diverse range of water sports that we offer guests through our fully-equipped diving center," says recreation manager Bojan Kalodjera. "From windsurfing, hobie cat sailing, kayaking, body-boarding and surfing to water skiing, wake and knee boarding, banana boat and doughnut rides, we offer it all. We also can arrange for diving trips, as well as half- and full-day trips to Musandam.

"In addition to diving excursions we also offer year-round fishing trips, from trolling fishing and fly fishing to bottom fishing,' he adds.

Of course now the adventure market is growing, the region's properties are looking beyond water - even Le Méridien Al Aqah.

"In the future, I think it would be great fun to incorporate a few military style obstacle courses," says Kalodjera. "Also we are very keen to offer proper mountain climbing, which is not yet available at the hotel."

As Le Méridien's future plans show, adventure tourism on dry land is also a lucrative market - something the UAE's Hatta Fort Hotel knows all about.

"We offer a choice of activities such as mountain biking, clay shooting, archery, mini-golf, golf driving range and a cross-country fun golf course," says the property's general manager Sergio Magnaldi. "Because of the hotel's location in the rugged Hajar mountains there are plenty of opportunities for independent adventurers and desert and wadi excursions can also be arranged."

Going in still another direction is the world-famous indoor ski slope Ski Dubai, boasting five ski runs of varying difficulty housed inside Mall of the Emirates - an attraction which is definitely a draw for hotel guests, explains Kempinski Mall of the Emirates general manager Holger Schroth.

"Ski Dubai is the third largest indoor ski resort in the world and being attached to this snow resort is one of our biggest competitive advantages," he admits. "Ski Dubai is the only of its kind in this region as well, which makes our hotel more exclusive and attractive to the tourists visiting Dubai.

"Our guests can also choose to stay in our luxurious ski chalets and have the benefits of receiving complimentary snow park and ski slope access to Ski Dubai.

"These chalets are our most distinctive room product," continues Schroth. "The magnificent view of the slopes in Ski Dubai gives you a real Alpine feeling and experience."

A Middle Eastern market?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, one of the biggest markets for adventure packages is the corporate sector.

Kempinski's Singh finds the majority of interest in such trips comes from European and South African companies organising team building activities, a market which Mina Seyahi's Scully says will be key for the recently-opened Westin.

"Now we've opened the Westin hotel we've got quite extensive MICE facilities, specifically aimed at attracting the overseas market," he explains.

But what of the travellers from this region: are adventure tourism hot-spots seeing any demand from them?

According to Kempinski's Singh, the Middle East market is growing year on year. "Zanzibar is becoming known not only as an established relaxation destination but also a wild, untouched adventurous spot," he comments. "It is a perfect destination for a long weekend from Dubai, Doha or Kuwait."

Mina Seyahi's Scully agrees. "With the opening of the Westin we've just had a massive influx of enquiries, predominantly into the adventure MICE/team-building type of market. And it's mainly because there's been a big shortage of it in Dubai," he asserts.

"If you look at the general hotels and resorts in Dubai, very few of them offer anything different. What Mina Seyahi's always tried to do is be that little bit different, so we've offered something that is different to what others are offering and people are responding to that."

Again, it is that differentiating factor which can put one property ahead of another for a specific clientele, as Kempinski's Schroth points out.

"Our hotel market is mainly the GCC countries; Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia comprise of the majority of our guests. Since these guests do not have snow in their countries, Ski Dubai has proved an enticing attraction."

Demand from ‘adventure tourists' has been steady thus far, but it appears that this market is set to rocket over the next few years.

As Kempinski's Singh notes, guests increasingly like to be active during their holidays. "They enjoy relaxing on beautiful beaches, but they want something more as well - something that Zamani Zanzibar Kempinski can offer," says Singh. "Also, companies are increasingly using such activities for incentives or fun team-building purposes."

Mina Seyahi's Scully agrees that there has been a significant up-swing in corporate business and believes it's time to focus on the leisure sector.

"We're hoping to see a change on the leisure front now, with guests coming in because of our activities; we aim to market them towards that clientele," he adds.

Hatta Fort's Magnaldi also sees a great deal of potential in marketing the leisure adventure holiday. "There is still a market for more ‘mellow' adventure, coupled with rest and relaxation options," he says.

Living on the edge

Of course there is a whole new set of challenges for hotels which choose to go down the adventure tourism route - fitting out the property, buying equipment, finding qualified staff and running safety courses won't come cheaply.

However, as Mina Seyahi's Scully comments, this should not deter properties that are serious about focusing on this market.

"Equipment-wise, it's obviously high-capital equipment, so you've got to look at these things as an enhancement to the hotel," he points out. "They don't all necessarily make money in their own right; however if you put them all together, they make your hotel so much more attractive."

And that initial output will pay dividends when the additional activities help the property to stand out in the competitive Middle Eastern hotel market of the future, says Scully.

"In our region there will be 8000 more rooms coming on the market in the next 12 months, and it really is going to separate out the hotels which do have good activities and can entertain their customers from those who don't and which are fairly boring," he says. "That's where the real value is going to come into play, with these activities."

Future adventures

So what's the next step for the adventure tourism industry; how can new hotels enter the field, how can old hotels bring themselves to the attention of the leisure traveller, and how will such efforts pay off in the long run?

On top of changing consumer demands, there are of course numerous projects currently under development all around the Middle East that will attract leisure business - and Mina Seyahi's Scully believes Dubai will be at the forefront of this region-wide change.

"I think with Dubailand and the whole emphasis of those kind of projects, it's all about leisure," he asserts.

Kempinski's Schroth adds: "Dubai Sports City is poised to include more ski resorts and water sports facilities, while the Palm projects will offer more water sport activities for tourists to enjoy. All of these developments are vital for the Middle East to compete in the world travel market as a leader in tourism".

Can the Middle East measure up?

But the world travel market could be the Middle East adventure tourism market's undoing. There are countless places around the world that have been plugging the adventure angle far longer than this region. African safaris, skiing in the Alps, trekking in South America and diving in Australia have long been favourites with adventurous travellers; can this region compete with other countries' natural scenery, wildlife or marine life?

And - novelty factor aside - can man-made marine experiences, indoor ski-slopes and reclaimed islands ever replace the real thing?

Atlantis' Zarzosa says he is uncertain as to whether adventure tourism could ever be a key draw for visitors to the Middle East.

"I think there are plenty of places in the region to direct customers who want to be adventurous - diving, skiing, dune-bashing and so on. However I don't think people specifically come to the Middle East for that. I think there are other great places to go for adventure," he points out.

However Zarzosa adds that things may change once the region's many planned developments come online.

"Although it's not necessarily a hub or the best place for one thing [yet], it is somewhere you can do the whole lot - skiing, water sports, climbing, whatever. I think that will come together more in the future, but it's still a matter of being able to convey that to the traveller, and make sure they are aware of just how diverse a range of adventure activities there is," he says.

But Mina Seyahi's Scully has other ideas. "I don't agree with that at all; I think we're at the centre of [the adventure tourism] market," he asserts. "If you just look at our location, you've got Africa to the south, Russia north and the Asia to the west and east - we are a prime market for all these activities.

"Of course it will take time to develop to the level of Disneyland or something," he admits. "But considering the amount of investment and the partners that Dubai's bringing in, I think they'll be competing head-on with all these countries. And with our location and the flights coming in, our access will be far, far better than any of these other destinations. So I think we'll be right up there with the best of them."

Think clever and capitalise

The adventure tourism market may be taking off, but hoteliers have to be clever to capitalise on this trend.

There are two vital factors for hotels embarking on this route to remember: firstly, do your own thing well rather than trying to do someone else's badly. So a hotel located by a busy and polluted port probably shouldn't set up a diving school and try to compete with Egypt's Red Sea resorts. Adventure tourism is not simply about offering ‘adventurous' activities, it's about offering well thought-out, unusual activities, put together in packages with a difference.

Secondly, as all the aforementioned properties have recognised, adventure tourism can act as a major differentiator between one hotel and its neighbour.

And ultimately, it is these positive differentiators that will keep pulling in the punters if and when supply outstrips demand in the region.