AJMAN’S hospitality sector was well represented at the recently concluded 20th International Russian Travel Market. Led by Ajman Tourism Development Department (ATDD) general manager Faisal Al Nuaimi, the delegation included Kempinski Hotel Ajman, Ajman Saray, the Ajman Palace, Ramada Hotel and Suites Ajman and Tulip Inn Royal Suites Ajman.
ATDD targets a 15 per cent increase in Ajman’s hotel occupancy, which is in line with an increase in the number of hotel units. The five-star Fairmont Ajman is expected to be inaugurated by March, 2015, according to its general manager Henny Schaeffer, with 252 units.Iftikhar Hamdani, general manager of Ramada Hotel and Suites – Ajman, announced his hotel had the highest occupancy in the Northern Emirates in the period from October 2013 till May 2014. The hotel had 147,000 guests from Russia and the CIS market.A new deal with GDS online booking company would target 100 more daily guests for Ramada Ajman; a 500 per cent increase compared to 2013, he added.Olesya Getunova, assistant director of leisure sales at Ajman Saray, a Luxury Collection Resort and Starwood’s latest Middle Eastern hotel, and Jennet Yevshanova, assistant director of sales at Kempinski Hotel Ajman, both look forward to winter participation from Russia and the CIS countries. Methsiri Ranasinghe, business development manager at Tulip Inn Royal Suites Ajman, said his hotel’s revenues grew by Dh1.2 million ($326,700) in the first half of 2014, compared to the same period in 2013, and that between 65 and 70 per cent of guests were from Russia and the CIS market.