TravTalk Middle East Online Magazine
Newly appointed Hotel Manager at DoubleTree by Hilton, Ras Al Khaimah, Nayla Chowdhury, shares the way forward in 2017 driving a mix of business and leisure guests.
Shehara Rizly
Nayla Chowdhury, Hotel Manager, DoubleTree by Hilton, Ras Al Khaimah, shared that last year the hotel’s performance was very strong as both occupancy and ADR Y-o-Y were good, which resulted in a healthy REVPAR growth.
“The corporate market was an important driver being in the business and government hub of the city. Our weekend leisure business has seen a growth as well since the hotel offers a great value proposition to our guests by being able to offer beach and world class resort facility access in our sister property, DoubleTree by Hilton Resort & Spa Marjan Island. Another highlight last year was when we renovated our Lobby Lounge and expanded outdoor café for our in-house as well as guests from the surrounding areas.”
The average lengths of stay of most of the guests at the DoubleTree Hilton are 3+ nights. Majority are coming through agents, although they have recently seen a lot more corporate travellers coming to Ras Al Khaimah that are booking directly through their website and third-party channels.
Chowdhury stated that in 2017 they are focusing on few additional feeder markets for the hotel to diversify their mix by focusing on the GCC, Chinese and CIS market. Some of the international trade exhibitions they will attend this year would be ITB Berlin, ATM and WTM.
In terms of technology in the hospitality sector, she shared, “Advances in technology will play a big part in future customer experience of the guests. The role of social media will continue and hotels need to be very visible in this channel to forge close relationship with customers and potential customers in order to capture their business. The hospitality industry has begun to fully leverage this new technology to their advantage. Hotels, attractions and restaurants are finding unique, consumer-friendly ways to engage their guests via their mobile devices, including mobile microsites, one-click check-ins.”
Ras Al Khaimah is a destination where you receive both expats and locals apart from the foreign visitors. “Ras Al Khaimah is becoming a popular adventure destination in the region due to its majestic mountains, Jebel Jais, which is the tallest mountain in the UAE. We would like to leverage some of the new products that are being developed by RAK Tourism for adventure travellers such as Via Ferrata, which would include three zip lines, and other outdoor adventures. In addition we will continue to attract visitors from the neighboring emirates due to our tranquil white sandy beaches in Marjan Island and desert adventures in the area,” she says.
Currently they are working on a refurbishment of the Lobby, the Rooftop Bar and soft renovation of the hotel’s 154 rooms. They will be re-positioning the hotel very soon to give it a trendier and more of boutique feel to the hotel.
