UAE-headquartered hospitality company, TIME Hotels Management, is looking to capitalise on growing marketinterest from Russia, the Baltic states and CIS countries.
While
visitor numbers from across the region continue to grow, fuelled by
new airline routes and an aggressivemarketing strategy
by local government tourism boards, TIME doubled up on its
participation in this year’s Leisure Moscow exhibition, with
individual stands at the Dubai Tourism &
Commerce Marketing (DTCM) and Sharjah Commerce &
Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) pavilions, which netted the
growing hospitality group three major contracts with the potential
for over 15,000 room nights between now and May 2013.
“With
more than 1,500 agents and 65,000 visitors at this year’s show, we
were able to meet with key buyers and fast-track contracts for our
entire portfolio of six hotels and hotel apartments in prime
locations across Dubai and Sharjah,” said Mohamed Awadalla, Area
Vice President, TIME Hotels Management.
“The
growth in airline connectivity is a major driver for
new business,
with flydubai alone operating 78 scheduled weekly flights to
13 destinations in Russian, the CIS countries, Eastern and Central
Europe,” he added.
According
to DTCM, Russian hotel guests to the city increased by 22% in 2011
reaching 255,746 visitors versus 209,381 in 2010, while the Baltic
states and CIS visitors grew from 443,363 in 2010 to 510,852 in 2011
- a jump of 15%. Sharjah has also become a favourite destination for
Russian tourists, according to SCTDA Chairman HEMohamed
Ali Al Noman, who noted that the
emirate registered a
15% increase in inbound business in 2011, with 390,860 visitors
compared to 340,532 in 2010.
The
bulk of prospective business for TIME will be generated through
Dubai-based Omega Travel & Tourism and PegasTours
Russia, over an eight-month period, with rooms
allocations at flagship property, TI’ME Oak Hotel
and Suites, along with allocations at TI’ME
Grand Plaza
Hotel, and the TI’ME Topaz, Opal, Crystal and Ruby
Hotel Apartments.
A
second deal with Alpha Tours, which recently opened an office in
Ukraine in partnership with local operator NathalieTours Russia, will
potentially net substantial additional room nights for the brand;
with a third contract between the group and Voyage Tours for
Byblos Tours Russia rounding out the
new market opportunity.
“Year-to-date
room nights from Ukraine have increased six-fold against the whole of
2011 figures, and we are also starting to see business filter in from
Turkmenistan, while the numbers and average room rate from our
Russian guests also reflecting a steady rise. In addition to room
revenues, visitors from these markets have
one of the highest per average capita spends when it comes to food
and leisure activities,” said Awadalla.
“We
are seeing increasing interest in both our Dubai and Sharjah
properties as visitors pick up on the fact that there is more to the
UAE than world-class shopping
malls and
landmarks, and also look to the Emirates as a major international
sporting destination and expanding cultural hub,” he added.
Leading
UAE tourism bodies including DTCM and SCTDA are also increasing their
strategic marketing activities with SCTDA recently
launching a Russian version of its website, and an increasing variety
and number of destination brochures produced in Russian, Ukrainian
and Baltic languages by DTCM.
