Dubai: Jumeirah Group LLC, the hotel-management company that operates Dubai's Burj Al Arab, may open at least six other locations around the world this year, executive chairman Gerald Lawless said.
The government-owned operator of luxury hotels and resorts plans to open two hotels in the Maldives, as well as properties in Frankfurt, Shanghai, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait, Lawless said in an interview on Wednesday.
A recovery in tourism in Dubai has fuelled demand for Jumeirah's hotels, which are at full occupancy, Lawless said. Average room rates range from $550 (Dh2,020) to $700 a night.
The company, which operates hotels in New York, London and the Maldives, said on December 27 that it will manage Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, a 405-room, five-star hotel with Ottoman architecture on the Palm Jumeirah.
"There is a lot more depth in the market than there has been in the past in terms of the length of booking and amount of booking we are receiving," Lawless said.
"We are seeing an improvement in the conference market as the economy improves globally."
With about 50,000 rooms, it may struggle to maintain occupancy and room rates as a further 30,000 rooms are likely to be added in the next five years, according to Alex Kyriakidis, global managing director of Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure for Deloitte LLP, the New York-based consulting company.
Massive rise
To fill the available space, the number of visitors will need to rise to about 12 million from 9.5 million now, Deloitte estimates.
Jumeirah is cutting jobs in Dubai after losing management contracts for two hotels — the Bab Al Shams and the Meydan at the Meydan racecourse, it was reported yesterday.
