Eid Al Fitr spikes Dubai’s hotel occupancy

Dubai hotels are reporting a sharp increase in bookings by families from across the GCC region as the emirate gears up to roll out festive fun for families throughout the Eid holiday celebrations.

Peter Foster, director of sales and marketing at Intercontinental Dubai Festival City Group, said the group had been preparing for visitors attracted to Dubai for the Eid holidays, particularly for families from the GCC region.

“We have witnessed occupancy gradually increasing toward the end of the holy month of Ramadan and we expect occupancy levels to [have reached] 90 per cent by the first day of Eid,” Foster said.

He was anticipating that the uptick would continue in the months to follow as the holidays rolled into the start of the tourism season with a host of festivals and events across Dubai.

Hotels operators on Monday corroborated the view of an anticipated upswing in occupancy levels. Large numbers of families from the GCC region were keen to take advantage of the festive ambience and diverse holiday offerings in Dubai, they said.

Tarek Aouini, Emirates Grand Hotel’s manager, said the hotel had been a contributor in the task of getting people from the GCC to visit Dubai during the holidays. “Hence, even for Eid, we do expect a good influx of guests from the GCC markets, and we expect this to boost occupancy levels at our hotel,” he said.

Gerald Lawless, president and CEO of Jumeirah Group, said it was unique occasion for visitors and locals alike.

“Eid is always a very special period for people from all over the world who come to Dubai,” Lawless said. “Eid is a culmination of the month of fasting when all Muslims can relax, feel good about their accomplishment for Ramadan and enjoy some special time with their family and friends.”

Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment, an agency of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, has organised the seventh edition of “Eid in Dubai” to celebrate the occasion of Eid Al Fitr, as well as the 17th edition of Dubai Summer Surprises 2014, which is set to run from August 2 to September 5. Together, the combined celebrations and festivities run for 40 consecutive days. The celebrations would be “embracing and showcasing the core values of joy, family bonding and everything that can help the family to enjoy an unforgettable experience in Dubai during the Eid and summer holidays”, the governmental events organiser said in a statement.

Hotels were now looking ahead to a successful tourism season to follow up the sharp increase in bookings by families from across the GCC region for Eid, it said.

Meanwhile, this week is expected to be among the busiest for UAE airports yet, with Dubai International Airport hiring extra staff to cope with the traffic and Abu Dhabi International Airport expecting a 15 to 20 per cent increase compared to a year ago.

— business@khaleejtimes.com