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Traffic a roadblock for hotel occupancy rates

DUBAI —Traffic is the word on everyone’s lips and some hoteliers say the heavy traffic, and road construction projects, including Dubai Metro work, was working against occupancy rates this season.

A bit upset, however, a number of hotel spokespersons told Khaleej Times that they still hoped to expect occupancy rates on par with the previous years. City hotels such as Lotus Boutique Hotel and Hawthorn Hotel complained of drop in occupancy rates and experiencing significant difficulties in arranging taxis for clients at times of heavy traffic.

They said that on occasions, they had clients wait up to two hours for transport.

Subodh Mathur, assistant director of sales at Hawthorn Hotel said that while the hotel wasn’t busy now, he expected occupancy to be higher, between 80 and 85 per cent, from July with increased regional tourism. Mathur hopes the hotel’s occupancy would be higher than last summer and said it would pick up more guests that were lost to the FIFA World Cup last year. However, he said the hotel was battling against several other factors. “We are facing lots of problems with the taxis,” he said. “Because we are located in Deira, they avoid coming here because of the traffic. Either we have to make our own arrangements with our cars or ask guests if they want to take a private taxi. The fee is more expensive but there is no other option.”

Mathur said construction on the metro line had previously closed lanes in front of the hotel had affected the hotel but had since cleared.

Mohd Mohammed Azzim, reservations coordinator at Lotus Boutique Hotel in Deira said the hotel was expecting occupancy rates between 50 and 60 per cent this summer but was also experiencing difficulties booking taxis for clients.

“Compared to last summer it’s OK,” he said. “(But)mostly we have businessmen travelling for exhibitions from September. Business clients want quick access and it’s very hard for them to find a taxi. All this ongoing construction is also a factor for low occupancy in city hotels,” Azzim added. Hotels not located in the inner city or Deira area of Dubai were more optimistic.

David Thomson, corporate affairs general manager at Jebel Ali International Hotels said the group expected a high occupancy on par with the previous three summers.

“The occupancy differs from hotel to hotel within the portfolio, but overall we are expecting a very high occupancy this summer. It should peak at an expected 95 per cent in August,” he said.

“More regional tourists do tend to visit Dubai in summer, but still the summer is a very popular time for strong international markets such as the UK.”

Thomson took a positive view of transportation developments in Dubai. “We have successfully dealt with developments in Dubai over the last few years. However, the construction on the metro line is not expected to cause any direct problems for our properties. Indeed, we welcome it as another way of transporting guests to and from the city centre,” he said. “Apart from the financial impact on the running costs of our shuttle services and transfers for the guests we do not see any other major impact of the road toll system though whether it actually relieves congestion remains to be seen.”

Joey Victoria, reservations manager at Dusit Hotel Dubai said the hotel was offering discounts to attract tourist during summer. “We’re doing better than previous summers. August is very strong. July is picking up possibly because of Ramadan. People want to do business before Ramadan.”

A Jumeirah Group official said the hotels had enjoyed strong levels of occupancy during summer over the last couple of years and anticipated the trend to continue. “Our occupancy levels for the months ahead are higher compared to the same period last year.”

The Jumeirah official added: “This is testament to the fact that Dubai is a true year-round destination and has become one of the most popular and sought after tourism destinations in the world.”