Dubai Hospitality Management Holdings (HMH), UAE's home-grown hotel management company which owns three brands: Coral, Ewa and Corp branded hotels, Wednesday announced the opening of three hotels under its brand Ewa Hotel Apartments.
Two of these are Ewa Deira Dubai and Ewa Hotel Ajman. The third one, Ewa Hotel Mahdha in Oman, is expected to open soon.
With these openings, the portfolio of the nine-year-old company reached 33 hotels with 15 more in the pipeline.
Situated at Deira Corniche, Ewa Deira Dubai has 76 rooms and suites. The deluxe hotel offers a blend of quality accommodation and Arabic hospitality. Nearly half of the rooms offer views of the Arabian Gulf.
Michel Noblet, HMH president and CEO, said, "Ewa is a fantastic brand offering the right mix of facilities and services. The mid-market accommodations remain a niche segment with very limited supply against significant demand.
"Of the vast supply of hotel accommodation of 210,000 hotel rooms in the Middle East, the budget range accounts for a meagre 3,000 rooms while mid-scale a mere 11 per cent, thus offering massive opportunities. Our strategy is to expand more in this lucrative sector which holds enormous potential for growth."
The GCC remains the key source market for the UAE. In 2011, GCC citizens accounted for 1.8 million or 22.5 per cent of the eight million guests in Dubai.
Growth record
Substantial growth was recorded in visitors from Saudi Arabia (up 56 per cent) and Kuwait (up 32 per cent). Ewa Hotel Ajman features 108 apartments, including 72 one-bedroom and 36 two-bedroom apartments.
"Once the domain of business travellers, serviced apartments now offer a stylish and spacious alternative to hotels, ideal for both short and long-term guests and are often preferred by GCC travellers," Noblet said.
The Ewa Mahdha Hotel boasts 48 rooms and enjoys a secluded location in the heart of the mountains, within easy reach of the burgeoning community of Al Buraimi in Oman and Al Ain in the UAE.
