Dubai: R Hotels, a hospitality management division, announced a Dh150 million (USD40.9 million) investment in a 182-key hotel located on Ajman’s Corniche. Construction is expected to begin within the third quarter of 2015. The group expects to open the hotel during the first quarter of 2017.
“Ajman is a very attractive market for us. In line with our expansion plan, this project comes in at a suitable time to accommodate the demands of the growing market in the Emirate,” said Sumair Tarek, managing director, R Hotels.
R Hotels is the hospitality management division of the Ajman-based R Holding. The group owns and manages Ramada Hotel and Suites Ajman and Ramada Beach Hotel Ajman. The new hotel will be located beside Ramada Beach Hotel Ajman.
According to the Ajman Tourism Development Department (ATDD), the number of hotel establishments in Ajman reached 35 in the first quarter of 2015, compared to 30 in the same period in 2014.
“Our third hotel in Ajman will further strengthen our position as the leading hotel in the Northern emirates in terms of occupancy,” said Iftikhar Hamdani, general manager of the two hotels, and vice-president for Acquisition and Development at R Hotels.
The new hotel in Ajman’s Corniche will be the group’s seventh property in the UAE. The group owns hotels in Jumeirah, set to open in the third quarter of 2015, and at The Palm, set to open on the fourth quarter of 2016.
“ATDD has been actively tapping different markets like China and our hotels are also beefing up our nationality mix with arrivals from Turkey, Germany, Oman, and Eastern Europe. We are expecting higher room demands in the next couple of years, as confirmed by the opening and announcements of new hotels in Ajman,” Tarek added.
Ajman is the smallest of the UAE’s seven emirates. The emirate’s government signed a deal to develop an international airport expected to be completed by 2018. The airport is expected to accommodate commercial aircraft with a capacity of one million passengers a year, with a possibility of rising up to 10.4 million by 2046.
ATDD announced that revenues in the first quarter of 2015 were Dh90 million, compared to Dh77 million during the same period of 2014. The number of hotels doubled to 440,000 nights in the first quarter of 2015, compared to only 240,000 nights in the first quarter of 2014.
The number of visitors to Ajman in the first quarter of 2015 reached 120,000, with a hotel occupancy rate increase of up to 70 per cent, compared to only 56 per cent in the same period in 2014.
Asian and African nationalities were the most frequent guests of the emirates, followed by GCC nationals and other Arab citizens.
The affordability of the rooms is believed to attract more visitors. Ajman is expected to benefit from Dubai’s Expo 2020.
“The Corniche, in particular, has a wide range of hotels and beach attractions which lure both tourists and UAE residents. It also boasts close proximity to Ajman Port and major international airports and business hubs, making it suitable for business trips,” Hamdani added.
