TravTalk Middle East Online Magazine
As the countdown begins for the opening of the first upper mid-scale Wyndham Garden property in the UAE, Cluster General Manager, Iftikhar Hamdani, tells TravTalk that the hotel group is already tapping new markets for the property along with the Ajman tourism board.
When the upper mid-scale property, Wyndham Garden, opens later this year in Ajman, it will be the only property with all 179 rooms offering sea view. It will consist of state-of-the-art facilities with a special recreation floor which will cater to wellness or health conscious travellers; the outdoor pool, spa, Jacuzzi, separate male and female sauna, steam and Jacuzzi room and health club are just a few of the many facilities.
Cluster General Manager, Iftikhar Hamdani, states, “Since we acquired Ramada Beach Hotel four years ago and Ramada Ajman, the occupancy has continued to be 93 per cent year to date. We realised the need for a third property which will provide our loyal customers another indulgence with a view of the sea. It is located adjacent to Ramada Beach and we are very confident of ensuring an all year round successful performance. We are already tapping new markets for the property along with the Ajman tourism board. We have already signed up with the German market and look forward to working with new markets such as Scandinavian countries; Denmark, Sweden and Norway and Baltic, Balkans, Central Asia and Turkish markets.”
This property will be very different from other properties as Hamdani and his team has ensured that there are facilities to accommodate the needs of the increasing sports tourism sector. “We understand that sports teams need to be on one floor with sharing facilities for two or three persons and a different room type for the coach and other officials. We have taken all these into account and created a floor plan and space accordingly. It is also more family oriented as we have many inter–connecting rooms which can be used by larger families for their regular staycations or long stay vacations,” said Hamdani.
Already the bookings have been made towards the opening of the property. According to Hamdani, the German market is secured and their participation at Leisure Moscow and the roadshow in September with Ajman tourism board in CIS countries in October with a visit to Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Armenia as well would defi- nitely boost their numbers. They have made aggressive sales plans for the property the same way as they have been doing for both Ramada Ajman and Ramada Beach hotel over the past five years which made them the leading hotel chain with best occupancy in the northern emirates.
“We will be hosting the blind cricket world cup in first quarter of 2018 and in the two properties we hosted various football and cricket teams over the past years, hence we do understand better the requirements of the sports tourism sector. This will be an edge over the other players in the market and we are very confident of obtaining a full hotel from the time we open in a few months,” continued Hamdani.
Ramada Ajman and Ramada Beach were the creators of aggressively marketing their CSR activities to ensure a better environment for everyone. Once the new property opens they will be continuing with Wyndham Green initiatives as well as to use new sustainable technologies in terms of waste management and energy conservation.
Making a sustainable profit is the requirement at the end of the day from every property. With a person like Iftikhar Hamdani, he is a captain that could steer the ship in any course with a high return within a very short period of time. Five years ago, when he took over the leadership of Ramada Beach Hotel, the first thing he ensured was profitability year-on-year within a short period. Hamdani’s marketing research and strategies are very welcome at any given period of time. The more challengers he is faced with the more strategies he finds with his team to overcome and ensure the best performance.
