The Address Hotels + Resorts strengthens sales presence in key feeder markets

The Address Hotels + Resorts, the five star premium hotel brand owned and operated by Emaar Hospitality Group, has strengthened its sales presence in key feeder markets in the Middle East and Indian Subcontinent. The company has appointed Nijhawan Group as its official sales representative office in India and Mr Wael Naba, a hospitality sales and marketing professional in Saudi Arabia.The exclusive representations are aimed at strengthening the marketing initiatives of The Address Hotels + Resorts, which already operates two prestigious properties in Dubai, The Address Downtown Burj Dubai, the flagship hotel of the brand, and The Palace – The Old Town.
 
Mr Marc Dardenne, Chief Executive Officer, Emaar Hospitality Group and Emaar Hotels & Resorts, said: “The Address Hotels + Resorts has consolidated its reputation as an award-winning premier hotel brand. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and the Indian Subcontinent are among our strongest feeder markets apart from Europe and Southeast Asia. Through our exclusive marketing partnerships in Saudi Arabia and India, we are further strengthening our customer outreach.”
 
He added: “Dubai’s tourism profile represents a high proportion of visitors from the Gulf region, particularly Saudi Arabia, and India. The marketing partnerships will help to reach out to these key markets and enable potential guests to evaluate the differentials offered by our brand. Both the Nijhawan Group and Mr Wael Naba have years of expertise in the hospitality sector and will further establish our brand in India and Saudi Arabia, respectively.”
 
Marketing activities to be undertaken by the new representatives include tradeshow management, roadshows and promotions. Sales and marketing initiatives will be drawn out and implemented to ensure achievement of revenue goals by tapping into relevant market segments within the countries.
 
With 34 years of experience in India, Nijhawan Group is a leader in the travel sector and boasts more than ten offices in different regions of the country including Delhi, Bangalore, Jaipur, Mumbai and Punjab among other important cities. The Group will focus on designing sales and marketing strategies to keep positioning The Address Hotels + Resorts as a luxury destination for business and leisure travellers within India.
 
The Address Downtown Burj Dubai – in close proximity to The Dubai Mall, the world’s largest shopping and entertainment destination – offers 196 guestrooms including 25 suites, and 626 serviced residences. The Palace – The Old Town, with 242 luxurious guestrooms including 81 suites, is an upmarket five star property managed by The Address Hotels + Resorts, also located in Downtown Burj Dubai.
 
Two additional hotels are scheduled to open later this year as part of the expansion plans of The Address Hotels + Resorts. The Address Dubai Mall is nearing completion and will offer 245 signature rooms, 450 serviced apartments and modern lifestyle amenities. The Address Dubai Marina, with 200 guestrooms and 442 serviced residences, is part of the Dubai Marina Mall complex, located centrally in the one of the most sought-after waterfront projects in the region.

Emirates’ A380 Sydney Service Earns Its Mark With Tourism Australia

Tourism Australia and Emirates marked the successful start of the airline’s daily A380 service between Dubai and Sydney at the 2009 Arabian Travel Market (ATM), running until 8th May.

Richard Vaughan, the airline’s Divisional Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations Worldwide presented Tourism Australia’s GCC Development Manager, Andrew Oldfield with his very own super-sized A380 model to celebrate the occasion.

Emirates introduced its revolutionary A380 product on the Dubai-Sydney-Auckland route on 1st February with a thrice-weekly service, and subsequently strengthened it on 1st May with a daily operation. The capacity expansion – 18 % – demonstrates yet another initiative in Emirates’ partnership with Australia.

Mr. Vaughan noted: “Emirates made a commitment to increase services to Australia some years ago and has delivered on its promise, even in the present economic times when others choose to reduce capacity. We are delighted to be able to proceed with this scheduled increase by making the state-of-the-art A380 service a daily operation.”

Mr. Oldfield added: “The recent easing of visa procedures in the region has contributed to an increase of 21% in visitor arrivals from the six-member GCC states. Emirates’ increased capacity will encourage further growth as well as support Tourism Australia as we step up our marketing initiatives in this part of the world.”

Emirates’ big plans for the A380 this year also include start of services to Bangkok and Toronto on 1st June, and to Seoul on 1st December. Emirates will be the aviation world’s first A380 operator to Bangkok and will usher in a whole new, luxury air travel experience to/from the Kingdom.

Emirates’ A380 heralds a whole new level of comfort and luxury never seen before on a commercial airliner. The ground-breaking in-flight product includes onboard shower spas with signature spa products in the First Class cabin; an onboard lounge for First and Business class customers; flat-bed massage-equipped private suites in First Class; a new generation of intelligent seating and flat-beds in Business Class; mood-lighting; and a second-to-none in-flight entertainment system featuring over 1000 channels of on-demand entertainment.
 

City Witnesses ’Gold Rush’ On The Occasion Of Akshaya Thritiya!

The city witnessed a ‘Gold Rush’ on the occasion of Akshaya Thritiya, the Indian Hindu festival which was celebrated this week, with consumers swooping down to buy the glamorous and magnificent array of specially designed collections. Year on year sales for Akshaya Thritiya were 5% higher for 2009 compared to 2008 and World Gold Council also spoke to key gold jewellery retailers to get their views on the market festival performance.Anan Fakhreddin Managing Director, Middle East and Turkey, said: “Since time immemorial gold has been considered as the ultimate store of value and prosperity world over including India. This is because it is closely integrated into their culture and religious practices. In fact, despite the ongoing economic downturn, the faith that consumers place in gold remains unshakable as ever, for they are convinced of it being one of the most dependable and reliable assets of all time. And gold has proved to be an effective portfolio diversifier throughout the financial crisis. The success of Akshaya Thritiya for the gold jewellers proves that the right marketing initiatives do attract favourable results and they need to continue to re-engage their customers.”

Joy Alukkas, Chairman, Joy Alukkas, said: “In collaboration with World Gold Council, we implemented a special promotion with increased marketing activities for this auspicious occasion, which was highly welcomed by our customers. We also witnessed a substantial increase in sales leading up to the event. Gold continued to maintain its position as the most valued and reliable jewellery in current market scenario.” In fact the rush of customers to their stores was so much on Akshaya Thritiya that they reported that in order to manage expected crowd, they had called for extra staff from their main offices. And while sales on both days were very high at all their outlets in the city, he said it had more than doubled on the day of the festival itself.Many customers appeared to have bought gold out of a sentiment to observe the festival and ensure a continuance of prosperity. One late shopper who wished to remain anonymous said that her mother based in Bangalore had called her several times during the week reminding her of the significance of the day and asking her not to forget to buy at least the smallest amount of gold on Akshaya Thritiya. So though she could visit Gold Souk only around 10:30pm, when most of the shops had closed down, she had bought a small gold pendant, saying she was happy to carry forward a tradition that was believed to attract good fortune in her family.Mr.Tawhid Abdullah, Managing Director, Damas Jewellery said: “This Akshaya Thritiya sales were more than expected and we have exceeded 2008 sales for the same occasion. We launched a specially designed collection for Akshaya Thritiya with attractive promotional offers for our valuable clients that were very well received. Our vast array of gold jewellery collections present designs for both mood and occasions, as well as for all age groups .We are extremely happy with the response and customer loyalty that we enjoy.”Babu John, Chairman, Sky Jewellery said: “Our launch of a gold gifting campaign with World Gold Council beginning Akshaya Thritiya was very well received by our customers. This campaign integrated a new collection of 22kt Turkish Jewellery that was the hot favourite. During this occasion, even in these economic challenges, people are willing to invest their hard earned income in gold. We had opened our stores earlier during this occasion in order to cater to the expected crowd and are very happy with the response.” Peak hour interestingly, for sales on this auspicious day he said was between 2pm – 5pm as several customers chose to come during their lunch break to make their purchases.
 

Sharaf DG To Host Family Theme Festival To Celebrate 4th Anniversary

Sharaf DG, the UAE’s largest electronics retailer, is all geared up for its fourth anniversary by announcing a month long exciting, activity-packed festival in all its stores from 30th April to 30th May ’09 that will centre around the theme of ‘family’. The celebrations will cap a highly successful year for Sharaf DG which saw the retailer embark on an aggressive expansion strategy by opening six new stores and winning four awards for retailing excellence, including the most recent ‘Best Retailer of the Year 08’ conferred by the prestigious Channel Middle East magazine.Mr. Nilesh Khalkho, CEO Sharaf DG comments, “We attribute our growth over the past year to our innovative marketing initiatives backed with support from our vendors and suppliers and most importantly our dear customers who, have continued to endorse Sharaf DG as their premier electronics shopping destination. On our fourth anniversary, we would like to express our gratitude and reward their loyalty by celebrating the ‘Spirit of the Family’ and hosting a festival that will provide an entertaining family evening out. Kids can engage in fun filled activities while the parents can avail of special anniversary deals on a variety of electronic and IT products and home appliances”.The highlight of the celebrations in stores will be a ‘Treasure Hunt’ for kids where every kid who participates gets a guaranteed gift ranging from creativity kits to interactive gaming CD’s, toys and loads of other gifts. The grand prize of the lucky draw will be an all expenses paid trip for 4 days and 3 nights to Disneyland, Hong Kong for 4 lucky families of 4 members. Participants in the Treasure Hunt also stand the chance of winning 50 Packard Bell Netbooks that would be up for grabs in the raffle draw. Kids would be pampered with chocolates and balloons, have their faces painted, can enter into a karaoke competition and contest their vocal skills and partake in numerous other fun activities. Sharaf DG which is known in the market for offering unprecedented deals, promises to once again wow shoppers during the festival with ‘Birthday Specials’ offers and promotions.Every year Sharaf DG plans unique celebrations for its anniversary. Last year it painted the town red by distributing thousands of anniversary cards to customers who after presenting the cards at Sharaf DG stores got a chance to play the ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and win fabulous prizes.The festival this year will run every weekend from Thursday to Saturday between 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. starting 30th April till 30th of May 2009.