DUBAI-BASED Layia Hospitality that operates The Layia Oak Hotel & Suites, the Crystal, Topaz and Opal Living Courts properties witnessed a 10-12 per cent growth in occupancies and 86 per cent growth in RevPar for 2011 from the previous year.
“Dubai was quick to recover from the economic crisis and saw demand from GCC travel increase, riding back on the political tensions in the region. Despite the increasing competition in the area, the trend is upward and looks promising,” said Mohamed Awadalla area vice-president for Layia Hospitality.
Awadalla believes that while hotels by the beach were more in demand, the location of their properties in the Tecom and Al Barsha area in Dubai did not hamper demand.
“Infact it is ideal for corporate guests with easy access to Jebel Ali and Dubai Media City. As a dry hotel, we also appeal to many of the GCC families.”
Currently the key source markets at the Layia Oak Hotel & Suites are from the GCC market as well as from the other emirates including Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. These markets are strong especially during the summer and weekends.
At The Layia Oak Hotel & Suites, there are plans to extend the meeting rooms, and open a ballroom in order to tap more Mice business. There are also plans to extend the restaurant and offer guests a wide culinary veraity including lLive cooking stations.
Awadalla adds that this is the time to build loyalty among guests. “We need to be cautious about the room rates, going forward. It is important for hoteliers to understand that demand for rooms in Dubai does not mean irrational increase in room rates, as this will simply shift the tourists back to other destinations. I believe that it is crucial that DTCM put a cap for the different hotel categories to ensure this.”
Looking ahead the company has put its two upcoming hotels in Dubai, the Layia Dahlia Hotel and the Layia Orchid Hotel on hold. “We are constantly in talks with developers and will soon make an announcement. We are keen to take the Layia brand to Saudi Arabia, where we believe we can find out a great niche, but right now our priorities lie in maintaining guest loyalty and expanding our customer base to new markets.” added Awadalla.