– AJMAN’S TOURISM INDUSTRY TURNED SAIL TOWARDS NEW, UNTAPPED OPPORTUNITIES, DETERMINED TO REACH ITS TARGET OF WELCOMING FIVE MILLION VISITORS BY 2021.
This year has been a good one for Ajman, with continuous growth being reported across all tourism performance indicators.
“The first two quarters of the year recorded a steady increase in the number of visitors to the emirate,” confirmed Faisal Al Nuaimi, general manager, Ajman Tourism Development Department (ATDD). Hotel revenues also rose, as he revealed, with the second quarter (Q2) registering a 14 percent improvement compared to the same period in 2014.
“During Q2, the hotel industry showed a surge of 40 percent in the number of guest nights for the hotel facilities, indicating that more guests are finding the emirate a good destination when visiting the UAE,” he added.
By year-end, Ajman expects to welcome 1.1 million visitors – an easily attainable goal according to Al Nuaimi.
“With all the strategies that are in place, we are confident that we will reach our target,” he said.
Optimism can be felt industry-wide.
“[It] has been a great year for us,” enthused Iftikhar Hamdani, cluster general manager, Ramada Hotel & Suites Ajman and Ramada Beach Hotel Ajman. ”Summer and Ramadan are considered as the low season in the UAE, but our hotels have enjoyed an average occupancy of 90 percent during this period. We are confident that we will reach our target profit for the year, as we are expecting high occupancy during the last quarter as well.”
This stellar performance is even more remarkable if one considers that in the beginning of the year, the local industry was still recovering from a severe drop from the Russian market, resulting from the current political and economic situation the country is in.
Faced with a new reality, tourism relatively quickly regained its strength and compensated for the loss by opening up new sources.
“Since we did expect a decline in arrivals from Russia because of the drop of the Rouble, we immediately overhauled our sales strategy and started to tap [into] new markets including Turkey, Germany, Eastern Europe and Central Asia,” explained Hamdani, confirming that despite losing a share of Russian tourists, the rooms of the hotels are now filled with guests from the above mentioned regions.
He did, however, specify that Ramada Hotel & Suites Ajman and Ramada Beach Hotel Ajman still do enjoy good leisure business from the CIS markets, especially during summer.
“Our team is also actively targeting the sports segment, and we already started in Kazakhstan,” revealed Hamdani.
Another market that proved lucrative for the cluster was the GCC, and it was also a major source for Tulip Inn Royal Suites, which suffered a 67 percent drop in Russian arrivals, Methsri Channa Ranasinghe, business development manager, Tulip Inn Royal Suites Ajman, reported.
“We managed to increase the business from GCC countries, [so] for our property, most prominent and lucrative market is the GCC,” he said, stressing that the team will focus on the Asian subcontinent in 2016.
Turning to greener pastures was also Kempinski Hotel Ajman, whose team actively works on attracting Scandinavians, in addition to Eastern European travellers.
“Most recently we have been focussed more on the Indian market as well, since we are a highly preferred destination for Indian weddings. During 2014, we organised 220 weddings in total at Kempinski Hotel Ajman,” boasted Kai Schukowski, hotel manager, Kempinski Hotel Ajman.
The industry-wide shift in target markets has also been supported by efforts of ATDD, which is actively working on opening up new avenues for growth and development, guided by a clear vision of transforming the emirate into a preferred destination for regional and overseas travellers.
“We have been eyeing a number of [markets] outside the UAE, such as the other GCC [countries], Asian countries such as China, and other European countries,” revealed Al Nuaimi, explaining that ATDD has already identified its targets for the coming years and is finalising its marketing strategy for the next three years in order to maintain its key markets and attract upcoming ones.
“The real focus of ATDD is to present Ajman to other cities as the new getaway destination [when visiting the UAE],” he revealed.
“[Ajman] is attracting major developers who are keen to tap into the emirate’s fantastic natural draws, including the varied wildlife of its mangrove creek and a prime location on the Arabian Gulf coast,” Al Nuaimi continued, highlighting the promising potential of Al Zorah Nature Reserve – a 7km long stretch of land on the emirate’s waterfront which features a pristine beach, a mangrove creek and a diverse wildlife.
“Expected to become the city’s central attraction, it includes creekside residences and fine dining restaurants,” enthused Al Nuaimi.
The development will also boast a new leisure attraction – Al Zorah Golf Course, an 18-hole championship course.
“With the opening of the Al Zorah Golf Course in December, we see a lot of opportunities, the more recreation and activities that we as a destination can offer, the stronger we will be,” believes Karina Davies, director of sales and marketing, Fairmont Ajman.
One such development that is currently underway is Ajman Marina, which will include hotels, residential towers, a yacht club, restaurants, shops and a promenade.
In terms of hotels, several new projects have been announced, among which is a new 182-key property by R Hotels, due to open in 2017.
“[More] great news is that the authorities are planning to complete the Ajman International Airport by 2018 in Manama,” Al Nuaimi further enthused, expressing his confidence that these projects will boost the tourism business.
It is clear that the emirate is determined to move forward but for this to happen, it needs more than a vision, emphasised Hamdani.
“For Ajman to reach its full potential, the hospitality and tourism players, alongside the other sectors, should work hand-in-hand in creating attractions, enhancing infrastructure and realising business potentials in our small emirate.”
