11 APRIL 2015 ISSUE 283 FULL OCCUPANCY IN SHARJAH GULF HOTELS GROUP INKED A MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT WITH ASDAL HOTEL FOR THE OPERATION OF A DELUXE FOUR-STAR PROPERTY LOCATED AT MANAMA’S SEEF DISTRICT. 05 BIMAN LAUNCHES SAUDI FLIGHTS 15 IN THIS ISSUE MARKET UPDATE 02 TECHNOLOGY 03 CRUISING 04 ACCOMMODATION 10 AIR 14 RENDEZVOUS 17 AGENT CORNER 19 TRAVEL TALK 20 TRAVEL CHANNELS 21 WHO’S MOVED 22 GULF HOTELS GROUP SIGNS PHOTO ALBUM 23 NEWS & EVENTS 24 FOUR-STAR HOTEL 12 MARKET UPDATE TRAVEL TRADE PUBLICATIONS Dubai RevPAR Drops Supply growth continued to outpace demand in Dubai in February, leading to a MANAGING EDITOR Mary Kammitsi 7.4 percent decline in RevPAR to AED852 (USD232).
[email protected] ASSISTANT EDITOR Maria Kazeli ased on data compiled by STR Global, dur- SENIOR JOURNALIST ing the month under review supply rose 6.1 Rita Kasziba percent well-ahead of the 4.1 percent rise in CONTRIBUTORS Dominique Christou demand, resulting in a 1.9 percent fall in occu- Ana Mladenovic pancy to 86.6 percent and a 5.6 percent drop in average daily rate (ARR) to AED983.48 (USD268). PRESS B Maria Demetriadou Nevertheless, STR Global foresees that the destination Pauline Shahabian will return to positive RevPAR results and witness a 1.4 per- DESIGN & LAYOUT cent increase in this metric for the year. Elena Stylianou “The outlook for the year remains positive, however as WEB DEVELOPER / IT the third and fourth quarter are expected to overcome a Soteris Constantinou weaker start of the year,” said Elizabeth Winkle, managing DIRECTORS director, STR Global.