Tourism and Hospitality
- The news you choose »
- Login to Add to Watchlist
Egypt tourism revenues fall 13%
Egypt's Tourism Minister, Zoheir Garrana has said that the country's tourism revenue has dropped 13.2% in the first four months of 2009 to $3.6bn due to the global slowdown and a sharp drop in eastern European visitors, Reuters has reported. Garrana said that the number of visitors from Ukraine had dropped over 57% while visitors from Poland and Russia had declined by around 23% due to the relative weakness of those countries' currencies against the dollar. However, luxury tourism had not slowed in the year to date, as Nile cruises were witnessing a high occupancy rate, Garrana said. The minister was hoping to keep the overall annual decline at 8% to 9%.
Rotana opens Syria property
Rotana Hotels executive VP and CEO, Imad Elias has announced the opening of the company's first property in Syria; the five-star Afamia Rotana Resort in resort destination Latakia. Currently in soft opening, the 246-room hotel features 14 beach cabins, a 500-head capacity ballroom and conference room for up to 350 people, a private beach with marina, and five food and beverage outlets.
MGM Grand to manage three Dubai hotels
Las Vegas-based leisure operator MGM Mirage says it will run three hotels in the Dubai Pearl development near Palm Jumeirah, reported The National. Pearl Dubai, the developer of the project, will bankroll and build a 250-room Bellagio hotel, a 350-room MGM Grand hotel, and a Skylofts hotel, while MGM Mirage Hospitality will manage the properties. No casinos will be operated at the hotels.
Dubai Ritz-Carlton expansion due this summer
Ritz-Carlton will start work this summer to double the size of its hotel in Dubai. Currently a 138-room hotel on the beach in the emirate's Marina area, Simon Cooper, global President and COO, said the 'relatively small hotel' will be expanded outwards rather than upwards, with the build taking about two years to complete. Speaking to AME Info, he added that its hotel in Dubai's financial district - DIFC - will open before year end. Cooper said the Middle East is of growing importance to Ritz-Carlton, with the company keen on expanding its presence in Egypt, Oman and Lebanon.
Zabeel halts plan to invest $1bn in US hotels
Zabeel Investments Executive Chairman Mohammed Ali Al Hashimi told Emirates Business that the company has postponed plans to invest $1bn in US hotels, and instead will focus on its investments in Dubai. 'First, because I think recovery will take much longer and second, the priority for us is our economy,' Al Hashimi told the daily.
Saudis main tourist spenders in Lebanon
Saudi tourists have been the biggest spenders Lebanon during the first four months of the year, accounting for 19% of total tourist spending. They were followed by tourists from Kuwait and UAE (13%), Egypt (8%) and Jordan (7%). Fashion and clothing accounted for 67% of total spending, followed by watches (11%) and perfume and cosmetics (5%).
Burj Al Arab won't drop room rates
Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts Chief Executive Gerald Lawless has said that unlike the rest of the group's properties, the Burj Al Arab will not offer discounted room rates to boost demand. Jumeirah's other hotels have dropped their prices, but Lawless said the luxury sector has been resilient to the crisis. He admitted that occupancy levels were down - although he would not give details - but said they were within expectations.
Four Points Bur Dubai set to renovate
The Four Points by Sheraton Bur Dubai has announced renovation of its faclities, alloting Dhs22m investment made by hotel owner, The First Investor LLC. Th proprty is located on Khalid bin Walid Street, commonly known as Bank Street. From 15 May to 15 July 2009, the hotel will close all of its 125 guest rooms to facilitate the renovation works. The hotel is set to reopen by August.
InterCon to open sixth Saudi Holiday Inn
InterContinental Hotels Group and Al Hokair Group have signed an agreement to open their sixth 180-room Holiday Inn in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Due to open in July 2009, the new Holiday Inn Al-Khobar Corniche hotel will have two meeting rooms with a capacity of 120 people and a ballroom that can hold 800 people. The hotel will also have a coffee shop, operated by Coffee Shop Co., and a restaurant serving international cuisine.
Booking deal boosts hotel commissions for agents
Pegasus Solutions and Travelport have signed an agreement so that agents can transfer booking data from Galileo to Pegasus Commission Processing. It means commissions will be processed, reconciled and consolidated before weekly payments are made to agents. A Travelport spokesperson said the deal would help agents address the challenge of collecting hotel commissions.
Anantara to manage hotels in Morocco
Anantara Resorts, a hospitality firm owned by Thailand-based Minor International, has announced that it will manage Anantara Marrakech Resort & Spa and Anantara Mogador Resort & Spa in Morocco, both set to open in 2011. Anantara Marrakech will be constructed within the Atlas Golf Resort, while Anantara Mogador will be adjacent to the town of Essaouira on the Atlantic coast.
Premier Inn opens second hotel in Dubai
Premier Inn has opened its second hotel in Dubai at Dubai Silicon Oasis. Owned by Whitbread, Premier Inn operates in Dubai under a joint venture with Emirates Group and entered the market a year ago with the opening of its first hotel in Dubai Investment Park. The new Dubai Silicon Oasis property is the first of two openings planned for this year, the other being at Dubai International Airport.
Saudi woman plans women's only hotels
Amani Shaikhoon, a Saudi businesswoman, has told the Saudi Gazette that she is in the process of forming the first hotel company exclusively for women in the kingdom. Shaikhoon said what motivated her to invest in women's hotels was the fact that family parties and events are usually held in hotels which have no facilities to maintain the privacy of female guests.
Almulla to open hotel in Makkah
UAE-based Almulla Hospitality, a new Sharia-compliant hotel operator, has signed an agreement to open its first property in Makkah. The Adham will be a five-star, 875-room hotel, and is scheduled to open in 2012.
Jumeirah to operate Al Farida Al Ain hotel
The Jumeirah Group has signed an agreement with Al Farida Investments to operate its latest luxury hotel development in Al Ain. The Dhs800m mixed-use retail and hospitality project will include a hotel with 220 guest rooms, lofts and chalets and four in-house restaurants.
It looks like you are using a Mac - check out our 
Web Feeds