44 Vol. 19/18, May 2018
FEATURE ATM DEBRIEF
way that they marketed the property was
not traditional; it was all online campaign
management and a lot of marketing acti-
vations. They used of partnerships and
positioned the product alongside like-
minded brands, push-promoting the
product and promoting themselves as
a lower cost alternative but with a key
service element.Sustainability and health-based
tourism were talked about a lot this
year at ATM. But does this interest
go beyond buzzwords?
AM: Both of those segments are incred-
ibly important areas of hospitality evolu-tion. Health tourism is an area that a lot
of businesses are looking to develop.
We have been heavily involved in health
tourism for a couple of decades and we
keep developing our wellness offerings.
For example, we’ve just introduced a new
sleep programme that integrates with our
other programmes to give guests a more
holistic approach to wellbeing. In today’s
incredibly fast-paced technology envi-
ronment, the opportunity for guests to
disconnect from the pressures of everyday
life is increasingly sought after.Dubai had 15.8 million visitors last
year and is targeting 20 million
tourists by 2020. Are we on track
to get to that fi gure?
AS: The city is moving in the right
direction. Dubai is growing at a rapid
pace with destinations such as La Mer,
Bluewaters, the theme parks and many
other destinations, along with different
dining experiences and lower cost“XXXXXXXXXX
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VAT. Most countries
have it. It depends on
whether the market is
strong enough for it
to be passed onto
the customer”764,000
Chinese visitors to Dubai in 2017.
Outbound tourism from China is
set to double from 2016 to 2021u The ruins at Madain Saleh, a UNESCO World Heritage site, near the town of Al Ula in Saudi Arabiano cruises anchor in that region, as the
ships currently cut through from the
Suez Canal to stop in the Arabian Gulf.
So the Red Sea is definitely of interest to
Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. And in
fact, Saudi Arabia and Jordan signed up a
fund of almost $2bn last month to work on
the infrastructure there. It’s a long way off
because the infrastructure requirements
of building the ports then moving on to
immigration, security, logistics and then
creating the destination are massive.
Aaron, there has been a squeeze on
rates in the luxury sector. Have you
felt this at Zighy Bay?
Aaron McGrath: The luxury travel market
in Dubai has had some challenges both
with occupancy and also with rates.
Luckily for Six Senses Zighy Bay that has
not been the case. In the last 12 months
we’ve seen a growth in both occupancy
and also in our room rates. And that’s
a result of having an incredibly unique,
experiential-based product offering. Our
property lends itself very well to a very
Omani experience and we’ve been able
to demonstrate that there is a strong
demand for this type of product.
Are there enough hotels in Dubai that
provide a unique experience?
AM: A lot of city hotels are starting to find
it difficult to differentiate themselves.
That’s made worse by the growth of
easy-to-access rate aggregating programs
that give the customer a smorgasbord of
hotels to choose from, and it becomes
difficult to distinguish between them on
anything other than rate.
How do you see the marketing
activities of the industry evolving?
AS: It depends on the demographic
they’re targeting. Social media and influ-
encers are obviously important for target-
ing the more dynamic, younger travellers
and positioning your product. From a
property perspective, it really depends on
the brand. But for the younger generation
technology is going to be the real focus in
targeting that kind of traveller.
Are these social media campaigns
actually working?
AS: The introduction of the Rove brand in
Dubai has done really well. It was a niche
that needed to be tackled and I think the
“The overall challenge now
is regional competition.
Vision 2030 hopes to
promote Saudis travelling
within their own nation”