Rotana sees promising signs for Q4

The Abu Dhabi-based chain, which currently manages 68 hotels in 26 cities across the Middle East and North Africa, has opened three hotels in the region so far this year; the Cove Rotana Resort in Ras Al Khaimah, the Afamia Rotana Resort in Latakia, Syria, and the Al Marwa Rayhaan by Rotana in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.

Rotana's new hotel in Makka, its first in Saudi Arabia, is also the first to open under the chain's new alcohol-free brand 'Rayhaan'.

The company told AMEInfo.com that the Rose Rotana in Dubai, which, at 72 storeys, will be the tallest hotel in the world, will also open under the 'Rayhaan' brand when it makes its debut in the fourth quarter of this year.

Of the remaining nine hotels that Rotana plans to open this year, six are located in Abu Dhabi, including two on Yas Island near the new Formula 1 circuit. One of these, the Centro Yas Island, will be the first property to open under the chain's new business-focused 'Centro' brand.

A Centro brand hotel is also set to open in the Barsha area of Dubai, along with the Amwaj Rotana, which will open its doors in the massive Jumeirah Beach Residence development in the emirate.

Dubai sees upswing

Rotana manages more hotels in Dubai than any other single operator, but it still believes there is room for growth in the emirate. 'January and February were quite tough, but business has improved since June,' said Michael Marshall, Rotana's Corporate Vice President for Sales & Marketing.

'One of the things we've noticed is that new customers are coming into Dubai because room rates are more reasonable and airline prices are lower than what they were during the boom. It opens new markets and definitely we have seen that come through this summer,' he said

Like other hotels chains in the industry, Rotana cut its room rates in the emirate by 20%-30% to help boost occupancy amidst the downturn. 'In August, some of our hotel apartments were at 90% occupancy, while others were in the 70's,' said Marshall.

'The other city hotels were running in the 60s up to 70%, which is pretty good considering that Ramadan began in the latter part of the month.'

'Back to basics'

Rotana has been able to avoid making redundancies since the downturn by relocating staff to other properties. On the revenue side, the chain has taken a 'back to basics' approach to try to lure more guests to its properties in Dubai, he noted.

'During the boom time, demand was very strong amongst the FIT (single traveller and small group) sector. They were often prepared to pay higher rates, especially during high demand periods. Meanwhile, demand at apartment hotels, whose core business is long stay, was reduced. Now we have gone back to secure more long-term business, which has helped boost occupancy and revPAR over the last few months,' according to Marshall.

The company remains optimistic that business will pick up in the latter part of the year, as a lot of corporate activity has been put on hold during Ramadan. 'Companies are not running at full capacity now, which means they will need to fulfil a lot of business needs in the last quarter. We are already getting good confirmations for that period,' he noted

And despite the fact that there are so many hotels in the pipeline in the emirate, Rotana is not concerned about over saturation of the market. 'When you look at the plan for Dubai, it makes things more competitive, but there is still business coming in, you've just got to work harder to get it,' Marshall said.