Gerald Lawless

'We are fortunate in that Dubai and New York are the two best markets for hoteliers in the world at present, with the top yield per room,' he says.

'Dubai enjoyed an incredible year in 2005, and our occupancy rate was in the high 80 per cents. This year we are on budget despite the mourning period and the cancellation of the Dubai Shopping Festival, and we have the prospect of an outstanding December with the rescheduled DSF in that month.

'At present everything is working in favor of international tourism and travel with low interest rates worldwide, property prices strong and inflation under control. In Dubai we have also benefited from the weakness of the dollar compared to the euro and sterling, which makes this an even better value-for-money destination.'

Biting the Big Apple

Breaking into New York is a big move for Jumeirah. But this is essentially another part of the Dubai Government's strategy to increase business with North America. Emirates Airline has just upped its flights to New York to two per day, and another Dubai-owned entity is the investor in Essex House.

'Jumeirah will grow with the investments by Dubai Holdings of which we are a part,' says Mr. Lawless. 'In North America this will mean properties in gateway cities like Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, Boston and Washington; and we would expect to have first option on managing these hotels.'

With the Jumeirah Essex House in New York, the chain has got off to a good start. At midnight when the Jumeirah management took over guests returning to their rooms were greeted with champagne, and Mr Lawless and his team were up at 6.30am to greet staff coming in to work with new name badges and business cards with the Jumeirah brand.

'We have been really impressed by the response of the staff. There is great enthusiasm for the new ownership, and most of our human resources team is still in New York working on the handover. We are hoping all 500 staff will stay.'

Regional ambitions

Aside from North America Dubai Holdings has been spreading its wings regionally with major real estate investments in Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Oman and Doha. And Mr. Lawless says that wherever a hotel component is included then Jumeirah is likely to be involved.

'But Dubai remains the foundation of the group,' he adds. 'Dubai has established an excellent brand as a destination, and there will be other opportunities for us as the city continues to grow. The Middle East is presently the fastest growing tourism market in the world and we don't see that changing.

'Around 25% of our visitors here are from the GCC. They feel at ease with the culture here, and have a higher average spend than guests from the UK and Europe who are slightly bigger in numbers. It is a strong base for a hotel group.'