- Dubai Savvy hotels are recognising the need to facilitate this move online. Dusit International started the year with a ramped up online marketing strategy and a new, more interactive website. This comes only three years after the last website rebuild and is a recognition that global travellers demand 24/7 connectivity, wherever they are in the world. The new website features a fresh look and design, and easy navigation, making it more convenient for guests to book, amend and confirm business and leisure trips online. Representing an investment of USD335,000, Dusit is hoping that its new web presence will boost online bookings from 12 percent in 2010 to 25 percent in 2011. Social media represents another key growth area for the hotel chain, which has appointed the company’s first social media representative, with Social Media Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Social Media champions at every Dusit property, responsible for all online communications activities. By all accounts, the online, last-minute booking trend is here to stay. However, if occupancies in Dubai continue to spiral upwards, many last minute bookers may find themselves out of luck, suggested Tamani’s Al-Awa. “Customers are
Dubai Marina
conditioned to being able to secure rooms at the last minute. However, perhaps strong demand for Dubai in February may reverse this, as many hotels will not be able to help last minute shoppers as their inventory will be full.” Cruise Operators A strong start to the year has left Dubai’s tourism stakeholders feeling cautiously optimistic. While it has been difficult to determine whether the factors currently driving demand are permanent or temporary, market fundamentals suggest that the
Since 2009, we started witnessing a tremendous increase in last-minute business with a more than 45 percent pick-up within the month
18
emirate is well on its way to recovery. This is supported by recent news that TUI Cruises plans to launch cruises from Dubai. Such announcements reiterate global confidence in Dubai’s long-term viability as a tourism destination. TUI will make Dubai its home port when it launches cruises to Abu Dhabi, Muscat and Bahrain in November 2012. “It will be the fourth cruise operator to use Dubai as a regional hub for cruise tourism in the Gulf, which is becoming a popular destination for international cruise tourists,” said Hamad Bin Mejren, executive director for business tourism, DTCM. Costa Cruises was the first operator to market regular cruises in the Arabian Gulf and this is the fifth consecutive season that the company will provide regular sailing in the region. In the 2010/11 winter season, Costa expects approximately 150,000 passenger movements in Dubai, up 7 percent compared to the previous year. Dario Rustico, vice president, sales and marketing, Pacific Asia operations, Costa Cruises, said the competition from TUI was welcome. “Healthy competition can drive more customers to the region. We welcome competition because it can help to develop Dubai and the region as a new important cruise hub. “Costa Cruises is the first and biggest cruise operator to offer regular sailings in the region. Apart from this, as a market leader in the region, in order to satisfy the needs of Arab guests, for the cruises in Arabian Gulf, we offer dedicated facilities, including religious services for males and females, regional food and drinks, menus and today programmmes on board in Arabic, Arabic TV and radio channels and Arab-speaking front line staff.” Dubai’s growing popularity as a cruising hub is further evidence of its breadth as a destination. It is this – rather than short-term political unrest in other regional markets – that will continue to drive demand, and push Dubai further along the road to recovery. n MARCH 2011