Aiana Hotels and Resorts bullish on UAE expansion

Dubai: Aiana Hotels and Resorts is in talks to open hotels in the UAE, according to a senior executive.

The Doha-based hotel chain is interested in having resorts, business hotels and serviced apartments in the country, said Amruda Nair, its joint managing director and chief executive, in an interview.

“The reason we’re so keen on the UAE is that it’s a mature market … we believe there’s a market for serviced apartments, which we are very bullish on. We also believe that in the UAE we can have leisure resorts and business hotels,” she said.

Aiana is in talks with a developer in Abu Dhabi and an Emirati family in Dubai for new properties, and hopes to sign a deal this year, she said.

The company has over 1,000 rooms in the pipeline across four hotels in Qatar, India and Saudi Arabia.

“There’s a massive Indian diaspora that is based out of Dubai and therefore we believe the Indian community will support a brand like ours,” Nair added.

Other locations

Hotel revenues have been under pressure in Dubai in the past year, mainly due to the increase in hotel room supply and fewer tourists from certain markets. Nair said she is not concerned about the lower revenue per available room (RevPAR).

“I think it’s a short term issue. In the long term, Dubai will still be of interest to us,” she said.

Aiana is also looking to expand into Oman, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

“Oman has become a great destination for Indian weddings so we think it would be a great place for a brand like ours … we should be announcing deals [in Nepal and Sri Lanka] this year,” Nair said.

The company signed its first hotel in India last October — the Aiana Munnar — A Moonriver Resort — which is scheduled to open later this year, and reportedly inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) earlier this year to operate four luxury resorts in Karnataka.