Saloni Bhatia – Mumbai
The Address Hotels and Resorts recently organised a road show in India with the aim to reposition the brand in the India market. They also introduced two new properties: The Address, Boulevard in the five star segment and Rove hotels for the budget travellers. Chris Newman, corporate director – operations, Emaar Hospitality Group LLC, and Pascal Dupuis, general manager, The Address, Boulevard, Dubai were present at the event.
Talking to Express TravelWorld, Newman, said, “India is an important market for us and is now the number one market. Dubai has over 1.6 million Indian tourists which has seen a 25 per cent increase from 2014-2015. For us, the India market in 2015 was approximately 10,000 room nights. With the launch of some new properties and brands coming on board for us, we feel we shall be able to double the room nights by 2017.” Talking about plans to pitch to the Indian customers, he said, “ We have three different brands and distinct hotels that offer three different price points. Starting at the Address Hotels and Resorts which is our premium luxury lifestyle brand, we then have Veda hotels and resorts which is our boutique lifestyle brand and finally Rove that we will be launching on May 1, 2016 which is a contemporary mid-scale brand. With a varied portfolio, I think it would widen our potential to tap into the India market.”
Newman also stated, “The business coming from India comprises of 55 per cent leisure travellers. I think there is not much of challenge to bring them to Dubai. Figures tell us that India is already the number one market entering Dubai and the growth is going to continue. Historically our offerings may not have been strong enough, but now we have services, food and beverages more tailored for Indian clients. We are now offering tea along with Arabic coffee to our guests at the entrance and even the buffet has items cooked by Indian chefs. Those little touches would make us more friendly and dynamic for the India market.”
Dupus further informed, “The Address is the second largest building in downtown and we have 196 rooms and 532 apartments. We are largely focusing on families on vacation. I feel the restaurant section would particularly appeal to the Indian travellers since we have Indian chefs preparing dishes for the guests and also live kitchen section.”