In the cavernous main hall of London’s ExCel conference centre, the stands of Abu Dhabi and Dubai dominate the World Travel Market’s Middle East section.
It is a fitting reflection of travel in the region in 2014, with both emirates enjoying a surge in numbers as so many of their neighbours languish in the face of regional instability.
Upstairs at the two-storey stand of Abu Dhabi’s Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi), the UK country manager Nabeel Al Zarouni is bullish about the emirates’ future tourism growth.
“We complement each other – at the end of the day we are one country,” says Mr Al Zarouni. “Abu Dhabi is the capital of the UAE and we offer a different product – we offer the blend of old and new.”
It is an offering, he argues, that has proven popular over the past year, when eight hotels with more than 2,000 new rooms have come online in Abu Dhabi, and occupancy has grown by 7 per cent. That means the emirate, which once struggled with oversupply in the hotel sector, now boasts average occupancy rates of 73 per cent.
Much of that growth is coming from the United Kingdom, Mr Al Zarouni says, hence the major presence at this year’s World Travel Market (WTM). In the first eight months of the year 122,893 Britons checked into Abu Dhabi’s 156 hotels and hotel apartments – a 27 per cent year-on-year increase. UK visitors delivered 533,181 guest nights, up 16 per cent year on year.
“We promote Abu Dhabi in the UK both as a standalone destination – where people stay for a week or more – as well as an option for visitors having a stopover. If the latter, we are hoping to persuade them to expand it,” Mr Al Zarouni says.
With the Abu Dhabi Louvre due to open next year and Yas Mall imminently, as well as Abu Dhabi’s usual run of events and conferences, he adds that the emirate is confident for the future: “There is lots in the pipeline and we are looking forward to it,” he says.
Over on Dubai’s equally huge stand, Issam Kazim, the chief executive of the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), is able to give perspective at the other end of the cycle. Abu Dhabi’s tourism sector, although buoyant, could be described as nascent, while Dubai’s is currently soaring.
The emirate recently announced it was aiming to raise visitor numbers to 20 million to coincide with the Dubai Expo, raising fears among some analysts that the sector risked overdevelopment – an issue Dubai struggled with in the property sector after the boom in the mid-2000s. Mr Kazim dismisses such criticism.
“A lot people are mixing up the Vision 2020 and the Expo 2020 numbers. Our focus is purely on Vision 2020. We’re expecting our hotels to be running at 100 per cent during the Expo – and we expect that in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah also – [but] we need to make sure that everything we are building will last beyond 2020,” he says.
He says lessons have been learnt since 2008, including not to overemphasise the five-star sector at the expense of the mid-range segment. As a result, the Dubai Government recently introduced incentives for developers building three and four-star hotels, including a waiving of municipality fees for five years – or six if the hotel is handed over within a year. DTCM has had about 50 applications since the rule was announced in March.
“What we did in the past worked but to get this next surge we to need to approach it by a completely different angle. In the past we supported the public sector, made sure they got what they needed, helping them – now it is taking a proactive approach,” Mr Kazim says.
It is undoubtedly true that Dubai and the wider UAE has benefited from the turmoil other parts of the Middle East has faced in 2014 and previous years. Syria remains off limits, while Egypt – despite recent government changes – continues to struggle as it tries to persuade tourists to return. Even Jordan has suffered negative publicity owing to its proximity to Iraq, where war rages against militants.
But Mr Kazim rebuffs the argument that it is only the instability in traditional markets that has boosted Dubai and the wider UAE’s popularity among international or non-Middle East tourists. He argues Dubai could have been harmed by the situation among some of its neighbours, particularly for potential tourists who do not know the region.
“I think it is a glass half full versus half empty approach. I always [think] that the things happening in the region actually could have destabilised things further. We could have had much [more] if there hadn’t been this situation,” he says.
One of the relatively smaller stands from the Arabian Gulf at this year’s WTM was from Fujairah but, sat on a white sofa in a small alcove, Saeed Al Samahi, the general manager of the Fujairah Tourism and Antiquities Authority, is as ambitious as his bigger UAE colleagues, albeit on a slightly smaller scale.
“Fujairah had 1.2 million tourists last year and we are looking to increase that. This year we may be looking at 1.5 million,” he says.
Mr Al Samahi says hotel capacity in Fujairah during holiday periods means all the emirate’s establishments are at 100 per cent, and up to 80 per cent at most other times of the year. The signing of contracts with the operators Hyatt and Millennium for new hotels in Fujairah this year will go some way to increasing capacity, he adds. The target is to boost total rooms to 5,000 from the current 3,000.
Unlike Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the majority of visitors to Fujairah are from the GCC, with nationals from other emirates – as well as Saudi Arabia – flocking to the beaches and hotels during holidays. That said, the emirate would like to see guests come from overseas as well, hence their presence at WTM this year.
“We need to promote Fujairah more. We have culture, we have history, we have beaches and mountains. We have a story that is unique,” Mr Al Samahi says.
For Mr Kazim, although links between the emirates are positive – and there will certainly be spillover from Dubai and Abu Dhabi into smaller markets – the seven emirates of the UAE will remain competitors.
“I think that, in all honesty, it always was different and that will continue. The way we are structured – we don’t have a ministry of tourism per se, each emirate has its own, each is working on its strengths, each is finding ways to stand out,” he says.
“No one seems to be treading into each other’s area. We’re not going to build a Guggenheim or a Louvre or a Grand Mosque, but we will leverage what the other emirates have and vice versa.
“I think competition is healthy.”
Plan built on Scottish link
Abu Dhabi may have had a major presence in London at this year’s World Travel Market (WTM), but it is England’s neighbours to the north that the emirate’s tour operators and hotels are now looking to.
The introduction of direct Etihad flights between Abu Dhabi and Edinburgh has many operators drawing up specific packages for tourists from Scotland. Most have been tight-lipped, however, about what exactly a Scottish focus entails.
“It’s great news and we are currently preparing a special package for the Scottish market,” says Elodie Azar, the deputy manager of Kurban Tours, which exhibited at this year’s WTM.
Hotels are also looking to cash in on the new link north of the border.
“Europe is important as it represents 80 per cent of the business in our hotel and we are looking at creating a special package for the Scottish market,” says Hande Unveren, the communications manager at Park Hyatt Resort and Villas on Saadiyat Island.
The Sheraton Abu Dhabi is another resort looking to exploit the new link with Edinburgh, European travellers accounting for a 30 per cent increase in leisure tourism since last year. European tourists, the hotel says, generally stay longer and spend more than guests from other parts of the world.
Links between Abu Dhabi and Scotland are already strong, with the UAE importing US$807 million from Scotland in 2012, according to the most recent survey by Scottish Development International.
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