Dubai: The JW Marriott Marquis Dubai hotel expects in the current year to exceed last year’s occupancy levels, as it boosts its marketing and sales efforts in key source markets, according to its general manager, Bill Keffer.
The luxury 1,608-room hotel was more than 73 per cent occupied, while room revenues rose 13 per cent last year. Keffer declined to give additional data.
“I think we will exceed that number this year… we would be looking at the mid to high 70s in occupancy for the year,” he said.
While inventory rose 22 per cent, demand was up more than 12 per cent last year.
Keffer said that tourist groups will be “a big part of the hotel’s business”, adding that he expects groups to make up around 35 per cent of the rooms sold this year.
“We’ve recently had groups from industrial companies, which have helped us this year. Our group base have been a key driver for us in the first quarter of 2016… we’ve had upwards of 50,000 room nights in groups in the first quarter,” he said.
The hotel’s sales team plans to go on over 60 sales trips in 26 countries to attract large corporate association and meeting groups to the hotel this year.
“We’ve travelled with DTCM [the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing] and with our own sales team. We spent a lot of time in Asia. I have just returned from Korea. We have also spent time in India, Russia, the UK and the US,” Keffer said.
