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INTERVIEW: Jumeirah Grp To Focus On Growth In Mideast, Africa, Asia -CEO

Monday, Feb 13, 2012

--To focus on expansion in Middle East, Africa and Asia over next five years

--To increase workforce by 50% to 18,000 worldwide over same period

By Tahani Karrar-Lewsley

OF ZAWYA DOW JONES

DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Jumeirah Group, the Dubai-based luxury hotelier with links to the emirate's ruler, plans to increase the number of properties it manages in the Middle East, Asia and Africa region over the next five years as it looks to tap the rising number of tourists visiting there, the firm's chief executive said.

"We think that's where the growth is, there's a need for new hotels (in these regions) and there is a lot of hotel development happening," Gerald Lawless told Zawya Dow Jones in a recent interview.

In terms of Asia, Jumeirah is looking at locations such as Jakarta, Tokyo, Hong Kong as well as Vietnam and Cambodia. The company plans to remain asset-light but at the same time increase its overall global workforce by 50% to 18,000 in the next five years.

Jumeirah's focus on Asia, the Middle East and North Africa is understandable. According to research firm Euromonitor International many euro-zone countries will experience a slowdown in tourist arrivals in 2012 as austerity measures and on-going economic uncertainty take their toll. However, emerging areas such as Asia and Africa will continue to see a boom in global arrivals thanks to the rising middle classes in the region, flourishing business travel, increased foreign direct investment and bilateral air agreements, it said.

TOURIST REBOUND

Meanwhile Arab Spring countries in the Middle East, such as Egypt, are expected to witness a rebound in 2012, and the U.A.E. and Turkey will continue to benefit from travelers seeking out destinations deemed to be safer than North African destinations like Tunisia and Morocco, according to Euromonitor.

"In the region we would like to see ourselves in Saudi Arabia, it's very important for us to be in the largest country in the region and we are targeting Jeddah, Riyadh and Al Khobar," Lawless said. "Also, we see a natural connection between the Arab World and Africa, so we are looking at Kenya and South Africa but also West Africa which is beginning to open up--particularly with Emirates offering direct flights there," he said.

Lawless said although Jumeirah, and the wider hotel industry, suffered in the 2009 to 2010 period as the global economy contracted, the worst now looks to be over.

"We did suffer in 2009 and 2010 but now we have gone through that period and I see us entering a more expansionary period now and I see tourism continuing to expand in Dubai. Already Dubai this year has achieved more than 8 million visitors in 2011 and I am confident we will continue to grow around 4%-5%," he said.

Helping fuel this confidence is what Lawless terms a new wave of Chinese tourism, with visitors from the world's second biggest economy taking a particular liking to Dubai's high-brand hotels such as Burj Al Arab.

According to Jumeirah Group, during the festive season from Dec. 20 - Jan. 101, its beach front resorts including Madinat Jumeirah, Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Jumeirah Zabeel Saray saw average occupancy surge to 90%, while revenue per available room--the hospitality industry standard for measuring hotel performance--stood at AED2600 ($712). Burj Al Arab, Jumeirah's most luxurious hotel, recorded average occupancy of 80.7& during this period and revenue per available room at AED7284.

-By Tahani Karrar-Lewsley, Dow Jones Newswires, +9714 446 1698 tahani.karrar@dowjones.com

Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

13-02-12 0607GMT