The recession has made the ever ambitious emirate a better value option for events, says Michelle Mannion.
Last year was not kind to Dubai. While the skyscrapers kept rising to ever-dizzying heights, the economy, like that of many other destinations around the world, took a nosedive. Often termed the Las Vegas of the Middle East, it seemed the emirate’s own version of the American dream was turning sour.
Still, rumours of its demise are very much unfounded, and like its US counterpart, which recently opened the ambitious City Center complex amidst the financial chaos – developed in partnership with, you guessed it, Dubai World – the emirate is looking firmly to the future. The January opening of Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, signalled its intentions, and the buzz of construction work remains ever present. Meanwhile, the hotels keep on opening.
What this means for event planners is that now is the time to reconsider Dubai. Once unaffordable for many companies, with room rates out of reach for those on more limited budgets, the emirate has been forced to drop its prices in line with the rest of the world.
Frédéric Bardin, senior vice-president of Emirates-owned destination management company Arabian Adventures, says that like Las Vegas, Dubai suffered from a perception problem following the financial crisis. “In 2009 there was a big drop in meetings and incentives here,” he says. “Companies cut their travel budgets or changed their destination, and Dubai with its luxury, bling-bling reputation was affected. For our company, MICE business went down by 50 per cent.”
But things are now improving. “Enquiries increased a lot in the last third of the year and now we’re just waiting for people to confirm,” he says. “We’ve worked on showing that Dubai is not only about the glitzy, glamorous, seven-star experience. So the downturn actually had a positive effect as far as I’m concerned – it brought occupancy down by about 10-12 per cent, and room rates by about 20 per cent [other estimates have put this as high as 30-40 per cent]. We became much more affordable, and people don’t have to be ashamed to come here.”
Cathy Mead, vice-president of business development for MICE at Atlantis the Palm, which opened on the Palm Jumeirah with so much fanfare in late 2008, agrees. “Dubai now is affordable luxury, and Atlantis is affordable luxury. Now the destination has aligned its prices with the rest of the world, it is more attainable. You can put on events for half the price you could two years ago.”
That’s a message the Dubai Convention Bureau is keen to convey. Natasha Tomé, its head of marketing, says: “We have the image of being luxurious and high-end but we’re trying to break that perception. So many destination management companies are offering competitive packages.”
What’s helped is the recent proliferation of budget and mid-market properties. Premier Inn now has three hotels here, Holiday Inn Express opened its fourth Dubai property in March, two more Ibis properties launched in 2009 and Easyhotel is due to arrive this summer. Rotana was set to bring its three-star Centro brand to the emirate for the first time on June 1 with the Centro Barsha, close to the Mall of the Emirates, and in 2012 Dubai will get its first Park Inn close to Dubai International airport.
“That was missing before – there was a lot of choice but it tended to be four- and five-star,” Tomé says. “It’s filled a niche in the market. The luxury and five-star developments haven’t stopped but we’re balancing them with other options.”
Omer Kaddouri is senior vice-president for UAE operations at Rotana, whose portfolio of properties in the emirate includes the Al Bustan Rotana, which is well set up for meetings (see overleaf). For him, this growth signals that Dubai is coming of age. “There’s a big demand for budget hotels in the region – the economy has changed. It’s a sign of a maturing market when you have two-, three-, four- and five-star hotels in a place.”
At the same time, improved infrastructure is also making Dubai better value. At the end of April seven more stops opened on the metro’s Red line, with the rest due to open by August. It runs from Al Rashidiya to Jebel Ali and travels along Sheikh Zayed Road, connecting the airport, the financial centre, Burj Khalifa, Internet City and Dubai Marina, with a second (Green) line planned.
Tomé says: “The metro is a big attraction for conference organisers. We estimate that about 5,000 hotel rooms are a couple of minutes’ walk from a metro stop.” Meanwhile, improved roads and reduced traffic are making it easier to get around.
That’s not to say the high-end growth had stopped. The ultra-luxury Armani hotel opened inside Burj Khalifa in April, while the Movenpick Hotel Jumeirah Beach launched in March and the Sofitel Dubai Jumeirah Beach in December, both located in the popular Jumeirah Beach Residence area. All have numerous spaces for meetings and events. More five-star offerings will open in the next year, including four more from Movenpick.
Time will tell whether the emirate will attract enough visitors to keep all these properties flourishing, but there’s no doubt the meetings trade will continue to play a key role. Carl Palmlund, director of sales for groups at Jumeirah, whose event-friendly portfolio includes Emirates Towers in the centre, Madinat Jumeirah by the beach and Bab Al Shams in the desert, says: “MICE has been an important component in keeping occupancy up across our properties. We’ve seen steady growth in the group segment, and I think 2010 will prove to be a very good year for Dubai in terms of MICE business.”
WHAT’S NEW FOR INCENTIVES?
While the choice of activities in Dubai has been vast for the past few years – from desert safaris to indoor skiing – several new incentive options should keep companies coming back. A trip to the 124th-floor observation deck at Burj Khalifa will be high on most lists, but the Dubai Convention Bureau’s Natasha Tomé has a few more ideas.
“[Destination management company] Gulf Ventures offers camel polo and it’s a lot of fun. The Seawings sea plane is a great way to see Dubai. A lot more DMCs are offering desert quad-biking, dune-buggying, sand-skiing and sand-boarding. Al Hadath Events offers desert horse-riding – you could have breakfast at a local farm and visit a sheikh’s house in Ajman.”
Dubai’s art scene is also growing. “Trips to visit local artists can be arranged, and there are a few more galleries on Jumeirah Beach Road – we need to get the message out that there’s a lot more cultural things you can do.”
Giving a local flavour to programmes is something Frédéric Bardin at Arabian Adventures is seeing increased demand for. “The philosophy of incentives has changed,” he says. “We are getting more and more requests from companies who say it’s not enough to go to a super destination, stay in a super hotel, eat well and drink well and have lots of fun. The incentive of the 1980s and 1990s is finished. Now firms want to do something meaningful – to meet local people, to interact with the community. Corporate social responsibility [CSR] comes into the conversation all the time now, especially from clients in the UK, the US and Germany.
“So we’re trying to go down this road – setting up things with local families, where groups can visit their homes. Attached to that you could do a fashion show with a local designer, a cooking class or a henna design course.” He recognises this can be tricky in a place such as Dubai. “Certain things you can only do with small groups and in this part of the world it’s not easy because, much as the people are super-hospitable, their lives and families are very private. You have to find a family who is willing to do it.” As part of the CSR angle, Bardin has noticed a growing interest in the environment, and says Arabian Adventures now offers wildlife-tracking in the desert.
Visit alhadath-events.com, arabian-adventures.com, burjkhalifa.ae, dcb.ae, gulfventures.ae, seawings.ae.
VENUES
MOVENPICK JUMEIRAH BEACH
The 294-room Movenpick is situated on the Walk promenade at Jumeirah Beach Residence, and has a fresh feel. The first floor has a ballroom that divides into three and holds 500 people for a reception, along with a pre-function area and two boardrooms. Events can also be held in the Talk, a bar-restaurant that opens on to a large pool terrace and garden – some 1,500 guests can be accommodated across the spaces. See the next issue of Business Traveller for a full review.
Jumeirah Beach Residence; tel +971 4449 8888; moevenpick-jumeirahbeach.com
ARMANI DUBAI
The world’s first Armani hotel, located in the Burj Khalifa, is an exclusive place to stage an event, with all elements of the design overseen by Giorgio himself. The 160-room property has a moodily lit ballroom holding 450 people – think decadent gatherings rather than staid conferences – with a pre-function area that opens on to an outdoor terrace holding 800 people. There’s also eight restaurants and bars, and a sleek business centre with two boardrooms and four snug meeting rooms.
Burj Khalifa; tel +971 4888 3888; armanihotels.com
SOFITEL DUBAI JUMEIRAH BEACH
A few minutes along the Walk from the Movenpick, the 438-room Sofitel features French-inspired design with an Arabic flavour – the vibrant lobby is inspired by a night scene, with low-hanging stars, an acacia tree and an art piece depicting the sails of a dhow. The first-floor ballroom holds 400 theatre-style or 350 for dinner, and there are four smaller meeting rooms.The Infini Pool lounge is great for outdoor parties, with views across to the Palm.
Jumeirah Beach Residence; tel +971 4448 4848; sofitel.com
MEDIA ONE
The four-star Media One hotel opened in Dubai Media City in November with a funky feel. The 260 rooms have names such as “Hip” and “Cool”, while the seven meeting rooms, located on the seventh floor, cater to their target audience with monikers such as “Headline” and “Broadcast” – the biggest holds 85 theatre-style. Parties of 700 people can be held around the pool on a deck that wraps around two and a half sides of the building, while the Med restaurant seats 96, with pool deck access. Zone bar can host up to 150 on selected nights.
Dubai Media City; tel +971 4427 1000; mediaonehotel.com
AL BUSTAN ROTANA
The “most MICEy” of Rotana’s Dubai hotels, in the words of the company’s Omer Kaddouri, the five-star Al Bustan opened in 1997 and was fully refurbished in 2007-08. It has one of Dubai’s largest hotel ballrooms – at just over 1,500 sqm, it divides into three and holds 1,500 people, with grand chandeliers adding a luxurious touch. It’s located in a dedicated convention centre on the lower ground floor, which has its own entrance, bountiful pre-function space and several meeting rooms. The hotel has 275 guestrooms and several dining options. It’s five minutes from Dubai International airport and about 15 minutes from the World Trade Centre. See businesstraveller.com/tried-and-tested for a full review.
Casablanca Road; tel +971 4282 0000; rotana.com
ATLANTIS THE PALM
Atlantis’s expansive facilities mean you could hold a whole three-day incentive programme without having to leave the resort. As well as 5,600 sqm of meeting and function space, the 1,539-room property has a 1.4km beach you can take over for parties or teambuilding, numerous restaurants and a wide range of water attractions, including a new diving centre. “The variety of experiences available, whether it be swimming with dolphins at Dolphin Bay or learning to make sushi at Nobu, are unparalleled,” says chief operating officer Serge Zaalof.
Crescent Road, Palm Jumeirah; tel +971 4426 0000; atlantisthepalm.com
