DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Dubai-based developer, owner and management firm Emaar Hospitality has robust plans to grow significantly but organically.
Speaking exclusively to Hotel News Now at last month’s Arabian & African Hospitality Investment Conference, Mark Kirby, head of hospitality at Emaar Hospitality Group, said its two international brands, Address Hotels & Resorts and Vida Hotels & Resorts, have opened three hotels in the last 12 months and will open assets in Bahrain and Istanbul next month.
The majority of Emaar Hospitality's hotels are in the United Arab Emirates.
There are more to come, with developments and openings in Saudi Arabia high on the firm's agenda, he said.
In 2019, Emaar sold five Dubai hotels in a sales-and-leaseback deal to Abu Dhabi National Hotels for 2.2 billion Emirati dirhams ($598.9 million).
Address Hotels & Resorts is a luxury product, while Vida Hotels & Resorts is lifestyle, Kirby said. Within those two brands, Address has the Palace Downtown and Vida has the Manzil Downtown, both of which cater to Arabic customers.
Emaar also manages two hotels under the Armani Hotels & Resorts brand — one in Milan, Italy, and one in Dubai — both in collaboration with the Armani fashion label.
In addition, its midscale Rove Hotels brand has opened the only hotel on the site of Expo 2020. The hotel opened on Oct. 1, and it will also contain Emaar’s 2020Club, a building with several floors of lounges, catering and event and rooftop space. That 331-key hotel has 19 suites, the only Rove to do so.
In total, Emaar is nearing 50 hotels in operation or in the pipeline, and Kirby is looking for more, albeit at a measured pace.
“We have not stopped, and we’re progressive. The hospitality part of Emaar is pretty substantial but a supporting presence,” he said.
Of the hotels it manages, it also owns 60%.
Staycation Surprises
Kirby said recent trading has been positive, and success has come from Emaar being the first hotel firm in the United Arab Emirates to close down almost all of its hotels at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Only our flagship the Address Downtown Dubai remained open, and we learned a great deal from it being so. We learned from all the touch points there, and also from the digital footprint we saw,” he said.
Emaar Hospitality's parent company — real estate developer Emaar Properties, which also invests in retail — also slowed construction on its pipeline of hotels in development for a time, Kirby said.
“Our closing was radical and quick. Construction [by the parent company] slowed slightly, but we have the expertise in this market, and we worked very closely with the Dubai Tourism & Commerce Marketing,” he said.
Kirby said Emaar Hospitality's hotel occupancy at its United Arab Emirates properties currently stands above that of their combined comp sets and equal to that of the luxury market.
The group’s revenue per available room has increased 86% year to date, he said, adding that during the bulk of the pandemic 60% of bookings derived from Gulf Cooperation Council countries, including domestic travel from within the United Arab Emirates.
Kirby linked that to Emaar Properties' entertainment offerings, which he said is one of the company's “four pillars” of development and operations.
“We’re able to offer wonderful staycation packages. Emiratis have become more conscientious of their own country during the pandemic,” he said.
For example, some of Emaar Properties' shopping malls can offer everything for a complete day out — entertainment, restaurants and hotels.
Shopping at Emaar Properties flagship Dubai Mall includes more than 200 internationally recognized brands, while its entertainment offerings includes cinemas, an aquarium, an ice rink and dinosaur, trampoline and virtual-reality parks.
Such trends and stability have been noticed by investors, a positive development for the company's pipeline, Kirby said.
“There is a lot of interest, and we envisage a pipeline of about five to seven hotels a year," Kirby said. “Investors are intrigued by our brands, especially Address, and they come to us because we are trusted. We are not out of control, and over our long-term vision we are very careful."
While labor remains challenging in Dubai just as it is globally, Kirby said because Emaar Hospitality looked after its staff, it has been very fortunate. All staff are housed in accommodations the firm built.
“There are 4,000 staff, and from them we’ve had a lot of positive feedback. There have been new roles and a fluid return to work,” he said.