Booking rooms at Middle East and overseas hotels with free phone calls is becoming a growing habit with the public and the travel trade across the region.
Last year saw a 225 per cent increase in the number of room nights booked with toll-free calls to the InterContinental Hotels Group’s Middle East Central Reservations Office in Dubai, and the company forecasts a further 129 per cent rise this year.
By dialing toll-free numbers in nine Middle East countries, callers contacting the reservations office can now make quick and easy bookings at more than 3,400 InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge Suites hotels worldwide.
“We made a major investment in setting up the reservations office, and it’s paying off, both for ourselves, and for a growing number of travel trade professionals, and individuals,” said Denis Johnson, vice-president, Sales & Marketing, InterContinental Hotels Group, Middle East & Africa.
“They’re using the toll-free lines because it’s such an easy, simple and reliable way of making hotel bookings, and at no cost.
Calls are taken seven days a week by reservations agents who speak a variety of languages and confirm bookings immediately.”
The toll free numbers are Bahrain (800 880), Egypt (0800-4433322), Jordan (800-22666), Kuwait (473 2100 ext 6233), Lebanon (01 426-801 – ask operator to connect to 866 866 7556), Oman (800 777 999), Qatar (0800 971234), Saudi Arabia (800 897 1465), and the UAE (800 4642).
InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn hotels and resorts throughout the Middle East, and worldwide, receive bookings as a result of the toll-free links, with the most popular destinations currently being London, Paris, Geneva, Dubai, and Lebanon.