How hotels cope when heat is on

Tourists tend to turn their sights elsewhere during the sweltering summer months in the UAE, so hoteliers must be creative if they are to convince holidaymakers to visit.

Atlantis The Palm has no problem filling its rooms during the peak tourism season, but has to come up with innovative strategies to attract business during the hot summer months. Jeff Topping / The NaShow more

As temperatures in the Emirates soar during the summer, hoteliers are left with a throbbing headache.

Fact box: Fun in the Sun What’s on offer for summer.

Dubai Summer Surprises This summer's entertainment and shopping festival runs from June 22 to July 31. Besides shopping deals on offer across Dubai's major malls, there are shows for families and opportunities to win prizes worth millions of dirhams. In 2009, the festival attracted 2.2 million visitors, with retail spending reaching Dh3.37 billion (US$918 million).

Modhesh World Modhesh World, based on the theme of the yellow, springy Dubai Summer Surprises mascot, is a vast, educational family entertainment venue at the Dubai Airport Expo Centre. It runs from June 20 to September 10. It attracted more than 500,000 visitors last year.

Emirates Palace The luxury hotel in Abu Dhabi is offering rates starting at Dh1,100 per room for GCC residents. Additional rooms booked for children are free during the summer period from May 20 until September 13. Emirates Palace is expecting to double its reservations this summer because of deals signed with tour operators and advertising.

Kids Go Free Dubai's hotels, Emirates Airline, flyduabi and the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing offer children travelling as part of family discounted airfares, free accommodation, meals and discount vouchers for attractions. The summer promotion runs from May 14to September 30.

Expatriates and locals escape to cooler climes, while many holidaymakers from Europe are unwilling to brave temperatures hitting 50C.

So how do major hotels fill their rooms?

Brett Armitage knows all about this challenge. As the senior vice president of sales at the US$1.5 billion (Dh5.5bn) Atlantis The Palm, Dubai's biggest hotel with 1,539 rooms, he works on strategies months in advance of summertime.

"As the head of sales for the business it's very easy to fill the property during peak demand periods, like Easter or new year," Mr Armitage says.

"But really, my challenge is to fill the periods when demand is going to be softer."

This summer season, the resort launched its promotions earlier than previous years to get a head start.

This is already paying off, Mr Armitage says, with more bookings in for next month and July than the same period last year.

"We had campaigns in Germany last October promoting the summer here," he says.

In January, Atlantis launched its summer promotions in the UK, and at the beginning of this month it began targeting prospective guests in the Gulf region.

The GCC, especially Saudi Arabia, has become an increasingly important source of visitors during the summer months.

Understanding the booking habits of different countries, as well as targeting guests who stayed at the resort last summer, are important strategies.

"Germans will book in advance if the offer's right and they see real value," Mr Armitage explains. "The Gulf market will never be an early booking market."

Discounts are key in luring tourists during the difficult months of July, August and September.

At Atlantis, summer room rates are reduced by almost half compared with peak seasons, with prices starting at Dh895.

Some hotels make even deeper cuts.

The policy has paid off, with Atlantis enjoying occupancy levels of about 90 per cent last summer.

"How do we do that? It's obviously very much driven by price and also by value," Mr Armitage says.

The hotel also throws in a number of freebies, including access to its Aquaventure Water Park.

"Back in March, we partnered with Emirates and Dubai Tourism to drive the Kids Go Free [campaign] in Dubai," Mr Armitage says. A number of hotels across Dubai participate in this summer promotion in collaboration with Emirates Airline and the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, which offers discounted flights, accommodation, meals and entry to key attractions for children.

The Dubai Summer Surprises shopping festival also helps to attract visitors. "I believe this summer is going to be one of the best summers ever," says Ashraf Helmy, the area general manager for Iberotel Hotels and Resorts, which manages hotels in Fujairah and Dubai.

"All the destinations that were competing with us are having troubles, if we talk about Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, Syria, and even Oman."

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He expects this will push rates up by 10 to 15 per cent this year compared with last year.

Occupancy levels are likely to reach up to 75 per cent compared with as low as 40 per cent in previous years.

Hotels in Abu Dhabi, which are far more dependent on business travellers than tourists, are also hoping to entice leisure guests with the right deals.

"Summer is the season where we can really play up to our strengths as a leisure facility for residents as well as the GCC traveller," says Arshad Hussain, the director of sales and marketing at the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr hotel in Abu Dhabi.

However, the timing of Ramadan will present a challenge this year.

"It is compounded by the fact the whole month of August is going to be Ramadan," Mr Armitage says.

"This year August will be more of a challenge."