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HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum
President, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman, Dubai Airports, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline & Group
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AHIC 2012
Click here to view Breaking Travel News interviewing key delegates at AHIC 2012
"Although I have been attending Hotel Investment conferences in the Americas for the past 25 years, this was my first time at AHIC and found it to be a great learning experience, the event was very well organized and the program was arranged expertly focused around the imminent issues facing the MENA Region.... If you are in the business of hotels (or plan to be in it) or are associated with businesses interested in B2B contacts in the MENA Region, AHIC is the must attend event."
Salman Haider, Executive Managing Director Hotels, Majid Al Futtaim Properties
2012 AHIC Leadership Award Winner Talal Jassim Al-Baha, Vice Chairman & CEO, IFA Hotels & Resorts. The award was accepted on his behalf by Joe Sita, President, IFA Hotel Investments.
AHIC told Mexico to sign double taxation agreement with UAE; aiming to develop direct flights from Gulf
Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai. 30 April 2012.
Mexico will soon sign a double taxation agreement with the UAE and aims to secure direct flights from a Gulf destination, the 8th Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) was told this morning.
"Mexico hopes for direct flights from the Gulf," director general of the government tourism investment fund Fonatur Enriqued Carillo Lavat said. ""We are working on it."
Lavat said that Mexico aims to double its number of foreign tourists from 23 million last year.
Egypt Tourism Minister tells AHIC Egyptian tourism is rebounding
Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai. 30 April 2012.
Egypt's Minister of Tourism Mounir Fakhry AbdelNour told the 8th Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) this morning that tourism numbers are recovering, tourism is vital to the Egyptian economy and reports of serious financial difficulties were wrong. He also rejected suggestions that the change in government following parliamentary and presidential elections could fundamentally change key elements of Egypt's tourism development strategy.
"The tourism sector is too important for it to be jeopardised by this or that political party," AbdelNour said in response to a question about a possible change in policy towards tourism if Islamist influence grows. "We are hopeful that at the end of the electoral processe in June we will see a substantial increase (in tourism numbers). Our plan is to get back to the figures in 2010 and to get 14.5 million tourists this year and create the environment and capacity to receive some 30 million tourists by 2017."
"In itself, the crisis has some advantages," AbdelNour said. "We noted an increase in the average length of stay of tourists. In 2010, it was 10 days, and it has inccreased in 2011 to 11.6 days and this trend has continued into 2012."
"The second positive thing is that it has improved the management skills of the operators," AbdelNour said. "The times being difficult, the tasks are better studied. This has resulted among hotels and travel agencies in attempts to strengthen the competitiveness of these operators. Most of them have restructured their capital and reduced their debts. Not a single operator went bankrupt."
"It has encouraged us all to be much more aggressive," AbdelNour said. "Never has the Ministry of Tourism advertised so much (and worked) to communicate and to be present at all major tourism events. We are making an effort that was never put before."
AbdelNour said he peak of tourism 14.7 million and income $12.5 billion in 2010
"In 2011, the crisis resulted in a decrease of 33 per cent to 9.8 million tourists, generating income of $8.8 billion," AbdelNour said. "The first quarter of 2012 witnessed a significant increase in tourist numbers compared with 2011 and they were up by 32 per cent up and only 17 per cent below 2010."
AbdelNour said there has been a significant increase in hotel occupancy in hotels Sharm Al-Shaikh, the Red Sea and Mediterranean coast. "Cairo and Luxor are lagging behind, but we are offering new packages," he said.
AbdelNour said the environment in Egypt would benefit from the changes since the start of 2011. "We believe the future will be better than the past," he said. "It is not difficult to explain this change in conditions where democracy prevails…and corruption is reduced."
AbdelNour dismissed suggestions that the delay in reaching an agreement about a loan from the IMF raised the possibility of a serious financial crisis. "There is no doubt that Egypt has a large deficit in its budget," he said. "There is no doubt that Egypt will have a deficit in balance of payments and will have to borrow." But he denied that a delay in securing an IMF loan would lead to bankruptcy
"The devaluation of the Egyptian pound has been minimal," AbdelNour said. "At the end of the day, the deficit in our balance of payments is not so much. Our foreign indebtedness is very very limited and our creditworthiness remains strong…Egypt will be able to borrow and fill the gap."
AbdelNour said that tourism accounted for 11.3 per cent of Egyptian GDP and and was the country's second largest source of foreign currency. Four million Egyptians work in tourism. It has potential for growth that is unlimited."
He said that devaluation of the Egyptian pound could be beneficial. "Tourism is the export of sevice," he said. "Any devaluation is good for exports. Even if the Egyptian pound devalues, and it could devalue by 5-10 per cent, it will have a very positive impact on tourism and exports."
AbdelNour said that Egypt was fundamental stable. "Everyone concentrates on what is happening politically and the demonstrations and nobody looks at 99.9 per cent of Egypt that is totally stable," he said. "Come to Sharm Al-Shaikh and Hurgada and see the number of planes that are lending there. Security prevails and we will come back on track very, very quickly."
AHIC told that competition intensifying in high-growth MENA markets; speed critical in maintaining competitive advantage Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.
28 April 2012
High-growth oil-exporting Middle East markets now top of the agenda of global business and competition in these and other buoyant emerging economies is growing, the 8th Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) was told this morning.
Co-founder of the CEEMEA Business Group Nenad Pacek named Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Algeria as offering the best prospects in 2012 and 2013. Jordan and Lebanon were in recession and growth in Turkey was slowing. He said business prospects in Egypt, Iraq and Iran depend on uncertain political trends.
Pacek said that competition was now a critical factor in emerging economies "To accelerate your growth you need to embed speed and urgency into your response to the competitive challenge in high-growth emerging markets in MENA and elsewhere," co-founder of the CEEMEA Business Group Nenad Pacek said. "Speed is of the essence."
"The ultimate guiding principle for companies operating in emerging markets is how to out-perform the competition," Pacek said. "The second principle is how can they make their businesses in emerging markets sustainable. If you don't have deep roots in high growth markets, you will suffer a competitive disadvantage."
Pacek said that the oil-exporting economies of the Middle East grow robustly in 2012.
"These markets are doing well by global standards," Pacek said. "Middle East oil-exporting countries have savings of about $2.2 trillion; a phenomenal amount of money. Their fundamentals are good."
"You cannot talk about the region as one entity," Pacek said. "It can be divided into several sub-groups. Saudi Arabia at the moment for our corporate clients is one of the fastest-growing markets on earth...we are seeing growth in some Saudi businesses of more than 30 per cent. This is where your business should now be flowing; into Saudi Arabia."
"The UAE will grow by about 4 per cent in real terms in 2012 and perhaps this year and next we may see a return of some of the investments that have been planned and postponed in Abu Dhabi," Pacek said.
"Dubai has recovered, although its debt is larger than its GDP," Pacek said. "There's been some debt restructuring and Dubai is being helped by the phenomenal growth in tourism."
"There is a $150bn spending plan in Qatar," Pacek said. "There is a solid outlook there."
"Growth in Kuwait is good but investment is low, so headline figures can be misleading," Pacek. He said that there are strong prospects in Algeria.
"Morocco is suffering because of drought and this is hitting GDP growth figures very hard," Pacek said. "Morocco's economic prospects depend heavily on agriculture and this in turn depends on the weather."
"Tunisia was in a recession last year and is still recovering from the economic impact of the political change that took place in 2011," Pacek said. "But this market should go through this transition without too much difficulty."
"Libya is recovering from civil war which cut GDP by 50 per cent last year," Pacek said. "It should recover it all this year. The problem is the challenge the National Transitional Council is facing in restoring order. We have to wait until we have proper elections in 2013 so no major projects will be announced in Libya in the next 12-14 months."
"Presidential elections are due in Egypt in three weeks and there are four candidates," Pacek said. "It's difficult to know who will win. The military is due to step out of the picture by 1 July. But there is still a lot of uncertainty."
Jordan is struggling and is going into austerity, Pacek said.
"In Lebanon, things have really slowed," Pacek said. "Political, consumer and investment confidence have all gone down."
"The Turkish economy is also slowing down and going through a soft landing," Pacek said. "The trouble with its very high growth rates was that it was not sustainable. The government will want to slow down imports and corporate buying from abroad. It will try to engineer the Turkish lira down. The main problem is the current account deficit. Still, many companies continue to prioritise Turkey."
"Iraq is growing almost 10 per cent a year, but almost 70 per cent of their companies did see growth in their business last year because of political issues and the fact that the oil money has not spilt over into the wider economy," Pacek said. "The main risk is political risk. But if politics stays calm, this market should grow by 9-10 per cent a year."
"The lastest talks in Istanbul between Iran and Western negotiators went surprisingly well," Pacek said. "It seems that things may be calming down...this could mean that some of the tough sanctions that have been imposed may be lifted. At present it is in operational terms the most difficult market in the region."
AHIC told Arab Spring lifted Dubai hotels; hammered Manama, Amman, Beirut, Cairo and Damascus Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.
28 April 2012
Middle East hotel performance varied radically in 2011 as the impact on visitor and business confidence of the Arab Spring affected the region unevenly, the 8th Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) was told this morning.
A study of revenue per available room (RevPar) across the region showed Dubai recorded the highest rate of growth in 2012. "Dubai strengthened its positiion as the regional hotels and hospitality leader," Jones Lang Lasalle Hotels Middle East & North Africa executive vice president Stewart Coggans said. "Dubai has (benefitted from) the economic recovery in source markets." He said he expected double-digit RevPar growth will continue Dubai in 2012.
"Bahrain lost almost half of its hotel performance in 2011," Coggans said. "It looks unlikely there wil lbe any return to growth this year."
"Muscat suffered a fall in visitor volume last year" Coggans said. "Muscat has a relatively small pool of international hotels so any additions to the market have bigger RevPar implictions."
"The Doha market remains finely balance and I remain nervous about the performance this small market can deliver," Coggans said.
"Syria and Cairo experienced a massive decline in 2011," Coggans said.
RevPar in Damascus fell more than 60 per cent; Cairo by almost 50 per cent; Beirut by more than 20 per cent and Amman by more than 10 per cent, Coggans said.
AHIC told Jumeirah had good year in 2011; sees growth in 2012 and is focussing on ME and Asia Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.
28 April 2012
Jumeirah Group Executive Chairman Gerald Lawless told the 8th Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) this morning that Jumeirah enjoyed strong growth in 2011, prospects for hotels in Dubai in 2012 are good and that the group is focussing on opportunities in the Middle East and Asia.
Jumeirah's said the last quarter of 2011 was strong for Jumeirah and this has been "strongly sustained" in first quarter of 2012.
Lawless said that Dubai hotel occupancy so far this year has been 88.6 per cent and that Dubai hotel revenue per available room (RevPar) is now higher than in Paris and Hong Kong.
He said Jumeirah is considering "at least" seven hotel projects in Saudi Arabia.
AHIC told financial crisis and Arab Spring have exposed the weak economics of some Middle East hotel projects
Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai. 28 April 2012.
The financial crisis of 2008/09 followed by the shock of the Arab Spring in 2011 have exposed the weak economics of some Middle East hotel projects, the 8th Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) was told today.
"Hotels on their own need to survive and be financially feasible," Majid Al Futtaim Properties’ executive managing director Salman Haider said.
He said that investors have invested in mxed-used programmes where hotels are effectively subsidised by associated residential and commerical developments. ""I think we are coming to a stage where we can’t rely on these types of measures," Haider said.
Standard Chartered Bank MIddle East head of real estate Fergal Harris said events in the past five years have eliminated much of the unwarranted enthusiasm for hotel investment in the Middle East. "We have a more focussed Middle East market and one that is now smaller," Harris said.
AHIC was earlier told that Dubai was consolidating its position as the leading Middle East hospitality hub while countries affected by the Arab Spring were losing ground in the sector.
Orascom chairman tells AHIC he is optimistic about Egyptian hotels; Abu Dhabi shouldn't have copied Dubai
Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai. 28 April 2012.
Orascom Chairman Samih Sawiris told the 8th Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) this morning that he is optimistic about prospects for the hotel industry in Egypt.
He also said Abu Dhabi should not have tried to copy Dubai's tourism and hospitality sector.
Sawiris, one of Egypt's leading business people, said that there was "stabilised chaos" in Egypt.
"We have a clear path…we have two presidential candidates with a real chance," Sawiris said. "It will be business as normal pretty soon." Egypt's presidential poll is due in three weeks.
Sawiris said that Dubai has developed a decisive advantage in tourism and hospitality compared with other regional centres.
Dubai has a "continuously growing and sophisticated management team," Sawiris said. "Copying it won’t work. Do something different. It was a big mistake by Abu Dhabi to replicate Dubai rather than beating them in areas where Dubai can’t compete: its islands and space. They should have banked on their wealth and their space."
Sawiris said The Cove in Ras al-Khaimah "has proved to be the best project I have ever done in my life."