Ease of electronic reservations key to Le Meridien Kuwait's growing revenues

Use of lower cost electronic booking systems, plus high demand for value for money accommodation in Kuwait, has helped Le Meridien Kuwait achieve high occupancies and a great market share in the first quarter of 2004.

According to general manager Hannes Yaghi, the freedom to set rates according to market demand has helped boost the hotel’s profile among business travellers, while greater use of GDS and other electronic booking services means that Le Meridien Kuwait had been able to widen its reach overseas at a low cost.

He said: “It has been critical to promote the hotel internationally given the high proportion of business travellers now moving through Kuwait. The use of these wide-reaching electronic reservation systems means we can get the message out globally that Le Meridien is here, offering quality accommodation at a reasonable rate.

“The results are now being seen as we achieved higher market penetration and revenue share in Kuwait City, while reducing the yield difference with our competitors by nearly one-third.”

Yaghi said while rates were rising in response to the very high demand, hotels such as Le Meridien Kuwait were able to cater to those looking for first class accommodation that was not priced among the most expensive in the world.

“A recent survey showed that Kuwait was the third most expensive city globally in terms of hotel room rates – while this is good news for revenues in the short term, a longer-term strategy calls for more flexibility in pricing, as demonstrated by Le Meridien in Kuwait.”

Le Meridien has a joint venture with A’amal Holding to open four hotels and a conference centre in Kuwait, and, following the opening of Le Meridien Kuwait early last year, it will introduce the second phase of expansion with the opening of the 70-room Le Meridien Tower Kuwait soon, with a third hotel in the Mubarakia area next year.