From travellers’ spending habits to stakeholders’ investment approach, the global financial crisis has undoubtedly transformed the hospitality sector – both regionally and internationally, says Michel Noblet, President and CEO of Dubai-based Hospitality Management Holdings (HMH).
“Customers’ expectations are different now than before. Not everybody’s flying first or business class, or enjoying the luxury of deluxe, five- or four-star hotels,” Noblet said, without mentioning the rather obvious fact that the economic meltdown has forced many people to tighten their belts amid a period of financial uncertainty.
But challenges open opportunities, especially in a market such as the Middle East, which has a solid track record of attracting tourists from various parts of the world, even in spite of the recent series of uprisings that shook some GCC and North African countries.
Noblet believes that the hotel industry, in as far as investments are concerned, has likewise embraced a new motto in response to the changing times.
“For investors, it’s minimum investment, maximum profit. Our midmarket and budget brands, for instance, takes six months to deliver. This matches perfectly the needs of the international market, especially with what’s happening now in the region,” he said.
After developing its five-star brand
Coral International Hotels and Resorts,
HMH has ventured into emerging midscale and economy segments with
Corp Executive Hotels, which target business travellers, and the soon-to-be launched
Ecos Hotels for the budget-conscious tourists.
The company also manages
Ewa Hotel Apartments, a “lifestyle hotel” brand that provides studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom furnished and serviced apartments for tourists travelling as a family or in group, a trend common among Middle Eastern holidaymakers.
HMH’s Corp hotels have been received well by travelers over the past years, according to Noblet, prompting the company to open more of this brand across the Middle East in the next five years.
More hotels in the pipeline across Mideast
HMH is an arguably young enterprise – having set up their business in 2003 – but in less than a decade, the company has managed to make its presence felt in 10 countries across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.
To date, the company has 11 Coral hotels in UAE, nine in Saudi, two each in Oman, Syria and Lebanon, three each in Jordan and Sudan and one each in Qatar, Yemen and Egypt. It operates four Ewa hotel apartments in Saudi, one each in Bahrain and Lebanon and has plans to open one more in Saudi (Riyadh), two in Sudan and one in Oman.
But the company is also focusing its energy into developing their Corp and Ecos brands, realising the growing demand for midmarket and budget hotels.
“We’re running high occupancy rates of about 75 to 78 per cent,” says Noblet of their three Corp hotels located in Al Barsha (Dubai, UAE), Doha (Qatar) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). In the coming years, they plan to increase their portfolio to include five more in Saudi, another in Dubai and one each in Jordan and Sudan, according to the company’s website.
With regard to Ecos, touted as “the Middle East’s first environmentally responsible budget hotel brand,” Noblet said they are eyeing the construction of between 10 and 15 of this two-star property in the next three to five years.
Riding out the Mena storm
Noblet, a French national who has dedicated the past 40 years of his career in the hospitality industry in over 65 countries worldwide, says he continues to enjoy the challenge of managing and opening hotels wherever he went.
In his profile, he mentioned that the more he travels, the more he wants to travel. “I don’t think I had ever wanted to do anything else but hospitality. It is a fascinating business, very people oriented, very lifestyle oriented. I must say I have enjoyed every moment – meeting new people, discovering new cultures,” he wrote.
However the hospitality sector, particularly in the Mena, has been heavily hit by political tensions over the recent past months. Noblet admitted that the turmoil proved to be challenging for their properties located in troubled hot spots.
“The revolution has affected our hotels in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Cairo. We cannot deny that. The business went quite low,” he confessed.
Reflecting on the near-term future of the region’s hotel industry following this recent trauma, Noblet was careful in giving any prediction.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have a crystal ball. I cannot say anything,” he quipped.
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