Rotana Hotels director of sales travel trade UAE Ganesh Kamath says: “If we look at Fujairah as a destination you have the beach resorts which are 45km away from Fujairah city, they are all in Al Aqah. There is potential in the city for the corporate, for long stays, so that’s why we are also opening a hotel in the city.
“And there are massive development plans on the board for Fujairah as well in the city, you have malls coming up in the next maybe two or three or four years. We need to be there before developments really happen,” adds Kamath.
WHERE NEXT?
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Currently, CBRE’s Andrieu says he thinks Sharjah is performing the best of the emirates outside of Dubai and Abu Dhabi because of its proximity to the city and its leisure and business offer. “Then I would say Fujairah and RAK; they are in the same position, because of the product offering,” he says.
“RAK is not yet an established market, but none of them are in terms of hotel offering. There are still gaps in the market – these will be filled, but this will take time.”
Hytönen agrees that Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah are the two “hot emirates” that Rezidor will focus on going forward.
“I think this is the direction to go. We know that there are lots of developments in Abu Dhabi, but we can see, especially in Fujairah, that leisure developing will be very interesting. And when we look at these two emerging markets, with limited supply, yes it is an opportunity for international brands to be there,” he says.
Tapken adds: “The northern emirates still have room to grow in many areas, and have the opportunity to attract more charter tourism — this means fewer luxury hotels and more economical or value for money properties and a different type of guest”.
There are also opportunities in Ajman and Umm Al Quwain, which “are lagging behind” right now, says Andrieu, “not because the destination is not interesting, but because the offering or the international notorious [well-known] players cover other places in the UAE.”
“Currently, we don’t have any plans in Ajman or Umm Al Quwain, but if there’s anything coming up we will definitely take a look at it,” responds Hytönen.
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