Ed Fuller, president & managing director of International Lodging, Marriott International, said: "Traditional major global source markets like the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan have long relied on their familiarity with global brands to make appropriate travel choices.
"Global brands offer more robust distribution channels and services, rewarding guest loyalty programmes, and have the strategic alliances with complementary travel suppliers that make journeying to far off places virtually seamless."
Fuller will join other hotel chiefs to discuss the advantages of using regional management companies versus international networks at the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference, taking place in Dubai between April 30 and May 2.
Owners around the region are expected to take a keen interest in the arguments put forth by experts including Gerald Lawless, managing director of Jumeirah International, and Imad Elias, executive vice president for Rotana Hotels.
Along with Fuller, their counterparts from the major global groups will include Jean-Gabriel Peres, CEO for Movenpick Hotels & Resorts and Kurt Ritter, president and CEO for Rezidor SAS Hospitality.
According to moderator, Jeff Weinstein, editor in chief of HOTELS magazine and HOTELS' Investment Outlook, the trend worldwide is for consolidation and specialisation in the arena of hotel management.
He said: "The global management chains are selling off their hotel assets and focusing on their own area of expertise, which is skilful operations and prudent financial costings. At the same time, we are seeing more and more hotels grouping together to expand their sales networks to tap new markets."
In the Gulf, traditionally a strong market for the big hotel names, new management companies such as Jumeirah International and Rotana have altered the shape of the marketplace, and the panel will discuss the arguments for owners to opt for locally based operators or bring in new names, particularly at a time when all the major hotel chains are looking to establish a foothold in such a booming market.
Fuller concluded: "Several years ago, the World Travel & Tourism Council predicted an explosion in global tourism by 2020 as some 20 billion travellers were expected to cross their national borders. This groundswell is already underway and we are feeling the impact of tourists from emerging markets like China, India, Russia and Eastern Europe, through Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
"Thanks to a consumer promise of consistent quality, service and integrity, these new tourists are familiar with a global brand, which increases their comfort and confidence when they venture far from their home base or geographic region."
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International hotel brands will continue to lead in Arabia
- United Arab Emirates: Thursday, March 24 - 2005 at 14:27
- PRESS RELEASE
The familiarity of international hotel brands will continue to prove a major consideration of tourists travelling to Arabia, despite the increasing number of brands originating in the GCC, according to a senior hospitality figure.
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Notes and media contacts
A curtain raiser to the Arabian Travel Market, the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference at Madinat Jumeirah conference centre in Dubai is organised by CB Richard Ellis Hotels, the largest commercial real estate firm in the world, and MEED Conferences.The advisory panel includes among others: Sarmad Zok of CEO Kingdom Hotel Investments; Salem bin Dasmal, CEO of Dubailand; Gerald Lawless, managing director of Jumeirah International; James Wilson, president of IFA Hotels and Resorts & CEO of Nakheel; Jurgen Baumhoff, CEO of Qatar National Hotels; Jean-Claude Baumgarten, president of World Travel & Tourism Council; and regional directors from international hotel groups InterContinental, Marriott, Movenpick, Rezidor SAS and Rotana.
Platinum sponsors are: IFA Hotels and Resorts; Nakheel Company LLC; Kingdom Hotel Investments and Rezidor SAS Hospitality.
Gold sponsors are: Arabian Travel Market; Deloitte; Dubai Festival City; Emirates; Fairmont Hotels & Resorts; Gullivers Travel Associates; HVS International; Interval International; Jones Lang LaSalle; Jumeirah International; InterContinental Hotels Group; Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts; Marriott International; M.A. Kharafi Group; Movenpick Hotels & Resorts; RCI Middle East; Octopus Travel; RSP Group; Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Strategic Solutions.
Media sponsors are: AME Info, CNBC Arabia, CNBC Europe, Global Hospitality Resources, HOTELS, Sleeper and TTN.
Supporters are: Dubai Convention Bureau, Emirates Academy of Hospitality; International Business Leaders Forum; International Hotel & Restaurant Association; TNS, Villeroy & Boch; the World Travel & Tourism Council and WOW Travels.
Media information:
Kirstie Hepburn / Fiona Swaffield
Strategic Solutions for Arabian Hotel Investment Conference
Tel: 971-4 391 5390, fax: +971 4 36918486
About the Organisers:
CB Richard Ellis Hotels
CB Richard Ellis is the largest commercial real estate firm in the world, with 250 offices in 48 countries. CB Richard Ellis Hotels focuses exclusively on the hospitality industry providing consultancy services for the sale, valuation, financing, development and asset management of hotels. CB Richard Ellis Hotels has been involved in several of the largest transactions in Europe, specialising in investment opportunities and sale and leasebacks that have typified the changing times. Jonathan Worsley of CB Richard Ellis Hotels has taken a lead in developing networking events for the industry by organising the International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin, the European Hotel Design Awards in London and now the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference in Dubai. Jonathan also sits as an advisor to the World Travel & Tourism Council.
MEED
MEED (Middle East Economic Digest) is internationally recognised as providing essential information for anyone doing business in, or with, the Middle East and North Africa. MEED now attracts over 70,000 individual readers each week, across 70 countries worldwide.
MEED Conferences is part of the leading information brand in the Middle East working to provide delegates with the very latest business sensitive information. Over the past 10 years, MEED Conferences has organised events attended by senior government officials and thousands of international business people. The conference series is aimed at companies active or seeking business in the markets of the Middle East. MEED is well established as the source of strategic and accurate regional information placing it in a unique position to bring together high-calibre speakers.
About the Arabian Travel Market
The Arabian Travel Market, which follows on from the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference, is now in its 12th year and organised by Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) the largest travel trade exhibitions organiser. RTE also organises World Travel Market, EIBTM, Mediterranean Travel Fair, CIS Travel Market, British Travel Trade Fair, International Golf Travel Market, AIME (Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Expo), LACIME, La Cumbre, ILTM (International Luxury Travel Market), Top Resa, and the ICCA Exhibition in Association with the ICCA Congress. The show is held under the patronage of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, the Government of Dubai.
Posted by Christine H. Andersen, Assistant News EditorThursday, March 24 - 2005 at 14:27 UAE local time (GMT+4)
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