JA RESORTS & Hotels, Dubai has many reasons to call 2013 a successful year and this will be highlighted at this month’s World Travel Market (WTM).
David Thomson, chief operating officer of JA Resorts & Hotels, says: “At WTM we participate as part of the Dubai stand and therefore our overarching aim is to ensure the emirate is represented as an attractive destination to accommodate all types of travellers, whether its long-haul, short-haul, business or leisure. Specifically, we at JA Resorts & Hotels are keen to share the news about our successful new property, JA Ocean View Hotel. Also, on the horizon are some exciting ventures, both within our current properties and further afield.”The company witnessed an eventful year with several new developments and adding to this success is the remarkable growth in the popularity of beachfront hotels in the region adding to the success ratio of the group. According to the Ernst & Young Middle East Benchmark survey 2013, the hospitality industry in Dubai achieved an overall increase in average occupancy of two per cent and beachfront properties performed even better. JA Resorts & Hotels has an inspiring portfolio of beachfront properties including JA Jebel Ali Beach Hotel, JA Palm Tree and its latest property JA Ocean View Hotel, which have all fared beyond expectations. Thomson says: “Despite the summer months being a little quieter as always, we had a strong start to the year and are looking healthy for the remaining quarter. While our beachfront properties JA Jebel Ali Beach Hotel and JA Palm Tree Court remain popular with our key markets, we can dramatically measure the success with our newest property JA Ocean View Hotel, a beach-facing hotel, located in the heart of Dubai Marina. The property has experienced an average occupancy of 82 per cent after opening in January this year and has already received an award for ‘Dubai’s Leading New Hotel’ at the 2013 World Travel Awards’ (WTA) Middle East ceremony.”
JA Resorts & Hotels has strong strategies in place. The company is continuously working on creating better offers for its loyal and long-term partners. Additionally, JA Resorts & Hotels wants to explore new markets, which is part of its agenda next year. “Our strategy for the rest of 2013 and 2014 is aligned as we’re focusing on rewarding top clients, talking directly to travel agents through their online training programme as well as keeping updated on feedback we receive from partners and guests. We’re putting a lot of effort into driving more business in our existing markets, through increased sales, marketing and PR activity and next year we’ll focus on new and potential markets,” says Thomson. “We also have a long-term plan to increase our Mice (meetings, incentives and conferences) efforts and focus on group and corporate bookings. We’ve also successfully launched our online training programme for the travel trade in the UK, with more than 250 UK-based tour operators and travel agents completing the programme and we’re now working on getting this out into our other key markets across Europe, CIS and closer to home in the GCC. The initiative was created to ensure our travel trade partners are up to date with the numerous and extensive property pgrades. “We’re also looking to open our first property in the Seychelles, the Enchanted Island Resort, in Q1 2014 and we hope to follow with more global announcements in the coming months.”This will be company’s first full year operating under the JA Resorts & Hotels brand, following the extensive rebranding in October 2012, as part of a decision to expand internationally. This year JA Resorts & Hotels also appointed two new general managers at its Dubai Marina properties with Torsten Obermann looking after JA Oasis Beach Tower and Otto Kurzendorfer responsible for JA Ocean View Hotel. Thomson concludes by throwing some light on the company’s new key source markets. “We’ve increased our efforts in the GGC this year with the appointment of a dedicated sales agency based in Saudi Arabia. We’re also looking into developing the Nordic market, which is increasing for us year on year, as well as India, which is certainly a growing market,” he says.
By Roma Arora
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