Hotel firm with family focus comes to Dubai

First and Foremost Hotels and Resorts teams up with Leading Family Hotels and Resorts to bring a family resort and hotel brand to the Gulf.

A new hotel management company specialising in all-inclusive family packages yesterday announced plans to launch in Dubai. The company, First and Foremost Hotels and Resorts, has teamed up with Leading Family Hotels and Resorts, which manages properties in Europe, to bring a family resort and hotel brand to the Gulf. First and Foremost was founded by Michael Scully, the managing director of hospitality at the Dubai-based holding company Seven Tides. Mr Scully is also the founder and a director of Coffee Planet.

"It's a concept which is fairly big in Europe, and Dubai by nature has got a couple of hotels which do cater for kids but no one has really seen the real value of looking at the younger kids," Mr Scully said. The hotels would cater primarily to families with children up to the age of four. Mr Scully said Europe's child-friendly hotels were targeting a family market that was not governed by school holidays, allowing for higher year-round room rates and occupancies.

The company is looking at suitable properties to manage with the aim of signing 12 deals within five years. It plans to have a property in each emirate and a further five throughout the GCC. [e-mail]