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REGIONAL BOOST FOR THE FAIRMONT DUBAI

Despite the challenges associated with launching both a new hotel and a new brand name in to the region, the local market has taken enthusiastically to The Fairmont Dubai - with a high proportion of guests coming from the GCC during its first three months of operations.

According to Michael Kaile, vice president and general manager, this underlines the impact the hotel has made in the competitive Dubai market and gives it a strong base from which to expand its profile.

"To a great extent, Fairmont is a new name in the region's hospitality sector, and given this, one of our priorities was to establish the hotel in the local market purely on the basis of its superior facilities and convenient location," he said.

"There is no blueprint for launching a hotel here in Dubai, but our pre-opening showcase served to introduce The Fairmont Dubai to the regional travel trade and since the opening, we have benefited from strong word-of-mouth recommendations in the GCC - and even had to turn away guests early on when our available rooms were at full occupancy." 

With all 394 rooms now open, and 10 food and beverage outlets already gaining a enviable reputation with local diners, The Fairmont Dubai is also extending its corporate clientele to give it a healthy market mix for the future.

"At the ITB travel trade show in Germany, we received some quality group bookings from target markets such as Germany, the UK and Sweden, and there are positive signs that the MICE sector has begun to return to Dubai, led by regional meetings," said Stephen Banks, regional director of sales & marketing, The Fairmont Dubai.

"On several days in the past month, all of our 18 meeting rooms have been full and we expect this business to grow by late 2002," he said. "Incentives may taken longer to return, but as a city hotel, we are focusing more on 'concentives', where a company meeting will be combined with some element of leisure for delegates."

In the more immediate future, management at The Fairmont Dubai is optimistic about the summer season, particularly in view of its initial success in the regional market.

"Early indications are that intra-regional travel will peak in the summer as residents prefer to holiday in the region, and with our 128 suites and convenient location - as well as beach facilities at a nearby beach resort - we are well suited to capitalise on this latest trend," said Banks.

Overall, The Fairmont Dubai is on target to finish 2002 above budget, he added, with a better than average room yield, again due to the high suite content in the hotel inventory.

"Although we opened with special rates for two months, our room yield is now rising and with our flexible reservation system, we have the capability to adjust rates quickly to suit market conditions."

By year end the hotel expects to see a shift in the market mix with 70 per cent coming from overseas - primarily corporate - and 30 per cent from the local market.

The Fairmont Dubai project represents the first step in a strategic alliance between the private office of His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan and Fairmont Hotels & Resorts to build and operate a number of luxury hotels in the region, and elsewhere.

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