Karim Bizid
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How has the performance been since the opening?
We have had an excellent journey since the opening. In 2013, we commenced with the pre-opening phase and opened to the market in the last quarter. The resonance and occupancy has been increasing month-on-month with the last quarter of 2013 performing well. The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) has set a target of 80% for five-star luxury hotels. In keeping with this target, we have had an occupancy of 60% which is slightly less than expected for 2013. However, we managed to catch up very fast in 2014 with January showing occupancy of 80% and February crossing 85%.
Which markets have shown growth for The Oberoi Dubai?
In the recent times, we have seen that Dubai does not work on a particular segment. It has been observed that in the same property, you will see different segments through-out the year. In my personal experience, there is no fine line between corporate, leisure or the MICE business. In our property, we go through different cycles. Holidays brings in a lot of GCC customers from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. During the events season, we will see a lot of MICE business. Otherwise, it is the corporate segment. The clear mark is that summer it is definitely leisure and winter it is corporate.
What would be the percentage of business versus leisure?
Our aim was to achieve a 30% corporate; 30% leisure and 30% MICE break up and we have met our targets. The FIT market fits into the 10% which include guests who book online or direct. This also includes local business from Abu Dhabi. However, in the long term, I would like to see corporate segment picking up to 32-33%.
What initiatives have been adopted to promote The Oberoi Dubai with the trade?
The Oberoi is known as a luxury brand and have received much recognition worldwide. This has helped us establish and promote our brand values within the trade. This is not our first property in the Middle East, we have a property in Saudi Arabia also Egypt. With this in mind, it was easy to enter the UAE with our experience. Taking this ahead, we regularly participate with the DTCM in their global road shows. This has helped us promote ourselves in several markets. Our focus with The Oberoi Dubai when we started was to keep a low profile until we have a polished product. We spent a huge amount of time on training the team and having consistent service. This is a key highlight as service is of prime importance for The Oberoi Group.
How has the online medium worked for The Obeoi Dubai?
It is the dream of every hotelier to increase their percentage of direct bookings to be above 20% or more. There is also a new culture of online bookings in the GCC. Riding on this trend, we see more online bookings coming from Europe too. Our current statistics state that we have approximately 17% of our business coming from the online segment. However, we would prefer that more bookings come from our website which is right now coming from OTAs. Our website right now offers several packages to cater to different segments. We customise packages as per our guests requirements. This is quite a differentiating factor.
Do we see any new developments or announcements?
There are a lot of new projects. We are also being approached by several companies to manage properties for them. However, our chairman is of the opinion that it has to be with the right partners, at the right location and right time. It has never been about quantity for the Obeoi Group rather it has been quality.
Which new markets do you see potential?
Australia is a big market especially with the Qantas and Emirates Airline link. There has also been an increase in number of tourist from Australia according to DTCM. This has been the same with us as we have seen a steady increase form this market. Another one is Africa which is a promising market as well as South America. The big bulk thus far remains Europe which comprises UK, Germany and France. India and China remain the strong markets. From a regional perspective, it would Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
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