Dubai: The UAE has room for new hotel brands, even as companies well established in the market add more hotels, according to industry experts at The Hotel Show.
Dubai alone has around 100,000 hotel rooms and is expected to add 10,000 by the end of this year. Nikki Beach Hotels and W Hotels and Resorts are some of the new entrants to the market.
New brands have the opportunity to “steal market share from older brands” and “have good business”, as long as they are better than them, said Alexander Schneider, general manager at Nikki Beach Resort and Spa Dubai, which is expected to open at Pearl Jumeira by December this year. The Nikki Beach Restaurant & Beach Club opened in February this year.
“We are in a market where new brands will replace old brands; new hotels steal market share from older brands,” Schneider added.
He said that new hotel brands attract new travellers. “I think the best that could happen to the city [Dubai] is that we bring brands that attract new travellers. I think Nikki Beach is one of these brands. We have seen that people that had never been to Dubai came because they wanted to have the Nikki Beach experience in Dubai. But you will need to be better than the older brands.”
Peter Katusak-Huzsvar, general manager of the W Dubai which opened in June at Al Habtoor City on Shaikh Zayed Road, said that new brands should focus on communicating with the audience when entering a new market.
“The most important thing when we enter into a new market is to see the interpretation of the brand. Communication is important. We have to bring out the right message: what is the brand all about?” he said.
