Dubai, 22 February 2012: Since investing in the development of their website six months ago the Carlton Tower Hotel Dubai has seen a staggering 45% increase in the number of visits to the site.

"This figure shows the importance of fully utilising your website as a marketing tool" said Hosni  A Hadi group general manager. "However it is important to remember that the website doesn't operate in isolation. We employ tools such as blogs, social media and PR to maintain visibility and to drive traffic to the site"

The hotel has employed a third party web development company to overhaul their site and to improve their online presence through the use of SEO and SEM tactics. 

"By monitoring our website statistics we can keep track of the number of visitors to our site and also the countries we receive bookings from" said Hadi "We have noticed significant increases in the number of booking from countries such as Bulgaria, India and Eastern Europe, which are key markets for us"

Hadi believes that the main advantage of direct online bookings over indirect online bookings is, not only because it is more profitable for the hotel, but also because increased traffic on the site increases the visibility of the hotel and its facilities.   

"Travellers have been using the internet for many years to research their travel buying and so we want to capitalise on this market by encouraging them to take the next step, to purchase online whilst they are on our site" he said. 

The hotel currently sees 12% of its business coming through its website but is forecasting a hike of up to 25% this year.

"Intelligent buyers are aware that they can often obtain lower rates through booking directly, particularly at short notice as hotels are keen to fill their inventories" said Hadi "People are becoming increasingly comfortable booking and paying for their travel needs online and as long as hotels make this easy for them to do this then we will continue to see an upward trend over the coming years"

-Ends-

Carlton Group of Hotels, Resorts & Spa is owned by The First Investor Group, which is a progressive, innovative and dynamic company involved in hotel operations, consulting, technical services assistance and strategic planning. As well as its property in Dubai the  Carlton Group of Hotels has already spread its wings for growth by opening its second hotel Imperial Palace in Amman Jordan and is poised to open a third hotel in Bahrain.

Contact the hotel on telephone 971 4 2227111

For media enquiries please contact:
Elaine Nettleton
Communications Consultant
CTT Consulting                   
PR & Marketing Communications
PO Box 117067
Dubai, UAE
Email: elaine@cttconsultingme.com
Mobile: +971 50 455 4347

© Press Release 2012