THE year 2011 started off on a positive note for Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, in terms of development in the Middle East with the opening of Mövenpick Hotel Deira and the brands ninth hotel in Saudi Arabia, the Mövenpick Beach Resort Al Khobar. In addition, the company made its entry into India with the opening of a hotel in Bangalore.
Toufic Tamim, vice president sales and marketing, Middle East, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts says, “Our biggest challenge has been the political unrest in some countries within the Mena region, which presented a challenge for destinations like Lebanon and Jordan.”
“However, considering these challenges the 2011 results remain positive, though lower than 2010. Overall, occupancy fell by four per cent versus 2010 and RevPar fell by two per cent across our hotels in the Middle East.
On a positive note our hotels in Saudi Arabia experienced an overall growth of 10 per cent in occupancy and four per cent increase in average rate. In addition our hotels in the UAE had an increase of 20 per cent in occupancy and two per cent in average rate versus 2010.”
Markets like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait remained the most resilient for Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts while Dubai saw an upturn in both room occupancies and average rates, despite the injection of a substantial amount of room supply. Tamim added, “The Arab Spring caused a shift of demand for leisure guests and conferences from some countries in the Middle East such as Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt towards Dubai.”
Beyond the Middle East, China and India continue to be key emerging markets with huge potential in terms of outbound tourism. China alone is expected to produce over 100 million outbound travellers by 2020 while India achieved a significant 12.5 million outbound travellers last year.
2012 will see a slew of openings for Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts. Within the Middle East three hotels are expected to open this year, these include The Mövenpick Hotel Apartments The Square Dubai, the five star Mövenpick Hotel & Residence Jumeirah Lakes Towers and Royal Amwaj Resort & Spa.