India is emerging as a major source market for the Address Hotel, Dubai. This was divulged by General Managers of various Address Hotels who were in New Delhi recently to thank their India Representative – the Nijhawan Group and the Indian travel trade that helped them receive good business from India. According to Michael Sorgenfrey, General Manager, The Palace Downtown Dubai, Indian market contributes 8-10 per cent to annual business. “We are expecting contribution from the Indian market to increase to 15 per cent. Our main source markets are the Gulf countries and UK followed by India,” he said and added that Dubai is becoming more and more popular in the Indian market owing to its attractions. The Palace Downtown Dubai generally gets around 25 events from India.
Philippe Zuber, General Manager, The Address Downtown Dubai, also shared his opinion about the Indian market. “India is the number one market for us after GCC. India contributes to 20 per cent to our business and we expect consistent growth from it,” Zuber said. Explaining the attractions in Dubai, he said that Dubai has the largest shopping mall of the world. “Dubai is a key market for finance and business. We see a consistent increase in the high-end segment from India,” he said.
According to him, Indian travellers are very demanding but very loyal. “We have 70 per cent repeat clientele which is very encouraging. The hotel commands an ARR of AD 2500 with an overall occupancy of 90 per cent. The Address Downtown Dubai is also looking at tapping the Indian wedding market. “We have developed the Indian wedding market as the Indian community in Dubai is very strong. Weddings at our venue are becoming popular,” he said.
Ankush Nijhawan, Managing Director, Nijhawan Group, shared that India was amongst the five top feeder markets for the Address Hotel in 2011. “India is now ranked among top three markets for the property,” he added.
