Dubai: The newly-opened Four Seasons Resort Dubai aims to be one of the top three hotel revenue earners in Dubai, according to its general manager. “We expect to be one of the top RevPAR [revenue per available room] hotels in Dubai. Once the hotel stabilises, we should be doing occupancies of high-end hotels and leading in room rates,” Simon Casson, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts’ regional vice president and general manager of the Four Seasons Resort Dubai, told Gulf News in a phone interview. He added that he expects the resort’s occupancy to stabilise in a year.
The Four Seasons Resort Dubai is located on Jumeirah Beach Road (Jumeirah 2), close to Shaikh Zayed Road and the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The company is also considering opening a second hotel in DIFC, as reported by Gulf News earlier.
The Ritz Carlton in DIFC and Al Qasr Hotel on Al Sufouh Road are some of the resort’s competitors, Casson said. On competition from luxury hotels, he said that the Four Seasons is “the only luxury hotel in the north end of Jumeirah Beach” and that its “services and people” are its key differentiators.
He added that location and the Four Seasons brand are what attract guests to the resort.
Jumeirah Beach is attracting ultra-luxury hotels. Mandarin Oriental expects to open a hotel there in 2017, and Bulgari Hotels and Resorts plans to have a property on Jumeirah Bay Island, which is located off the coast of Jumeirah Beach, in 2018.
The Four Seasons Resort Dubai has performed well since its November 16 opening.
“In a few days, people have been flocking to us. The weekend will be full — we are not taking bookings for rooms,” Casson said.
The Four Seasons mainly attracts leisure travellers, but business visitors also stay at the property due to its proximity to DIFC.
On the company’s digital strategy, Casson said that it is currently in talks with “opinion makers and bloggers to experience the hotel.”
Canada-based Four Seasons operates 92 hotels in 38 countries, and has more than 60 projects under development worldwide.
In the UAE, a Four Seasons hotel is under construction in Abu Dhabi. It is 50 per cent complete, and is on track to opening in 2016, Casson said.
The company is, however, not looking at opening hotels in other emirates at present, according to Casson.
In the region, Four Seasons is planning to open hotels in Bahrain and Morocco next year, followed by one in Kuwait in 2016, and Jeddah (Kingdom Tower) and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, although opening dates have not been confirmed.
