UAE sets eyes on new potential

The UK is one of the most important markets for the UAE and the Middle East. This year, properties from all over the UAE and the Middle East are surging ahead with a brand-new mandate to ensure they receive their own pound. Exhibitors from the UAE share why WTM is an important forum for them.

TT Bureau

Iftikhar Hamdani, Cluster General Manager— Ramada Hotel & Suites by Wyndham Ajman, Ramada by Wyndham Beach Hotel Ajman and Wyndham Garden Ajman Corniche
We will highlight our latest property, Wyndham Garden Ajman Corniche, alongside our two Ramada hotels in Ajman. The new hotel has enjoyed high occupancy since it opened in April. WTM is an excellent venue to meet and network with different tour operators, as we set sights on broadening our nationality mix by tapping potential partners.

Muhammad Mujtaba Haider, General Manager, ibis Styles Jumeira
The UK is an important market for us although it was slightly a challenge to extract more business because of less visibility which resulted in contributing 3.2 per cent from total business mix. Hopefully, this will increase for the next season. We are excited to interact with new partners as we look forward to collaborate with strong active wholesalers in the UK market.

Ashraf Helmy, General Manager & Area Business Development Manager, Miramar Al Aqah Beach Resort, Fujairah
The UK market is one of the important inbound markets to the UAE and to Fujairah. The British tourists occupy the third in a number of room nights at our hotel. We will attend WTM not to showcase our properties but meet our loyal partners and look for potential ones. We expect that our efforts in marketing the UAE and Fujairah would blossom.

Christophe Mousset, General Manager, The Oberoi Beach Resort, Al Zorah, Ajman
The UK market has the potential to contribute 30 per cent of our market share considering the large volume other emirates has. Our focus at WTM is to reach out to new partners and update our existing partners of the development of the resort. We expect to meet top travel professionals who are looking to partner with The Oberoi, Dubai.

Suresh Dissanayake, Assistant VP—Sales and Marketing, Adaaran and Heritance Aarah Resorts Maldives
At WTM, we meet some of our key partners from the UK and Europe here, as well as form new relationships to support our business. While we will highlight all our Adaaran properties, we will also be launching Heritance Aarah, the premium all-villa all-inclusive resort in the Maldives. Key expectation is to meet new trade partners from UK.

Samir Arora, General Manager, The Retreat Palm Dubai M Gallery by Sofitel
Our participation at this year’s WTM is to support the opening of The Retreat Palm Dubai MGallery by Sofitel, the Middle East’s first 360-degree wellbeing resort in our top feeder markets. Aiming to build strong business relations with loyal partners, we intend to educate the UK market about the region’s first holistic wellbeing resort, for international trade.