CORPORATE APPEAL
In addition to the leisure business, there has been growing interest in the northern emirates as corporate destinations, a trend The Rezidor Hotel Group is keen to harness.
“RAK has both a leisure and corporate profile. We have seen the development of new hotels in RAK and the plans to increase tourism to 2.5 million visitors by 2012; so RAK definitely will be a combination of both corporate and leisure,” says Rezidor area vice president Marko Hytönen. “We will be targeting the Gulf market, as well as the international markets for RAK.”
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Rezidor has two hotels in the pipeline for the northern emirates, Radisson Blu Qurm Hotel Ras Al Khaimah opening in Q3 2011 and Radisson Blu Al Aqah Beach Resort, Fujairah opening at the end of 2012.
“[Corporate] is more of a long-term plan,” says Hytönen. “If we look at the structural plan for 2015, it includes a lot of development in that region and we believe that this will generate further corporate business for our hotel in RAK. On the other hand, there is the RAK free-trade zone, and we believe that there are still opportunities in that area. But for leisure — we haven’t gone in the segmentation fully, but we believe we will have 70% leisure and 30% corporate for RAK,” he says.
Hearn envisages a similar balance for Hamra Hotels & Resorts, which will open the luxury all-suite Palace hotel in Q4 2010, the Al Hamra Residences and a convention centre.
“We have the Hamra Convention Centre, which is also at the resort — it would knock your socks off. The convention centre has a huge meeting room downstairs which can accommodate about 1700 people with smaller private meeting rooms, all full service, upstairs. As a MICE destination we can cater for any major event, be it for a trade show or a convention,” says Hearn.
In terms of specifically competing with Dubai, he adds: “I think people are always seeking a price alternative, and with the recent recession people are becoming more price conscious and people are trying to create differences in the way they do business. I truly believe that yes, it will [be successful]”.
For Rezidor, Sharjah is the priority for developing corporate business. “We are definitely looking to develop more of the corporate offering in Sharjah,” says Hytönen.
“During the peak years Sharjah somehow seemed to be the destination of the overflow for Dubai and it benefited a lot from being so close to Dubai and a lot of business came directly from Dubai.
“I really believe that in the future we need to focus much more on the corporate segment. Leisure will still be very important, but the corporate segment will be increasingly important for Sharjah.”
Rotana is also focused on Sharjah, with the opening of the 300-room Centro Sharjah Airport in August 2010 reflecting the gradual diversification of the market.
“The property, which will include both rooms and suites, will provide comfort and convenience for travellers passing through one of the region’s fastest-growing airports as well as for visitors to the emirate,” says Rotana CEO and president Selim El Zyr.
Fujairah is also a focus for corporate business, hence the planned opening of Fujairah Arjaan in 2010.
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