In an exclusive interview with Hotelier, Naim Maadad the founding CEO of Gates Hospitality in Dubai, said that it is currently a tough market [for hoteliers in Dubai] with a greater pressure on room rates than ever before.
Speaking to Hotelier, Maadad said that the challenge is that “Hotels in Dubai made lots of money in the early days when there was less supply and demand was massively up. Sadly those same people who experienced those days are having a hard time accepting today’s profits.”
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He said that while occupancy is the same, rates have dropped along with the economy too. “Hoteliers have to give the masses a reason to come here,” he says
Maadad recommends that hotels look to other source markets other than the established European and US ones. He talked about the Chinese and Indian markets, which he says are on the way.
“Are we ready for those? We don’t have packages for that demographic. We don’t have the right room sizes or the right facilities in the hotel for these travellers,” he says.
He pointed out that 6% of China’s population have a passport. “If we are seeing all these volumes around the globe, not only in Dubai, imagine when that Chinese market grows and develops, we need to be ready for it, including hotels,” he says.
For the full story, see the Hotelier Middle East April issue, out now.
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