Resurgence of Middle East: A Hope for Hospitality Industry #OFWTraveller
The Middle East bore the wrath of the global economic meltdown in 2008 and political instability of the Arab Spring in 2011. Interesting, it is now making a strong comeback on the travel and tourism front. Several international researches have suggested that the region, known for its numerous tourism sites is set to re-emerge as one of the most favored travel destination in the next couple of years.
The current room supply in the region in 1, 16,000 rooms, and is expected to grow by 162 %. Around 19,000 rooms are expected to enter the market in 2013. (2013 Middle East Hotel Survey by HVS)
A survey by The Global Futures and Foresight found that the region is ready to spend $3 trillion in leisure and tourism industry over the next 20 years.
The region is also expected to have 200 new hotels along with 100,000 additional rooms by the end of 2020.
Some of the key cities likely to attract visitors to this region are
*Jeddha, who is riding high on the back of a strong corporate travel base along with strong domestic leisure and religious tourism as well.
*Riyadh is expected to add nearly 5,300 new rooms in 2013 and 2014 as major international hotel companies are betting big on this city.
*Makkah is also in the race as tourist numbers to this city are expected to grow by 6% to 8% over the next two to three years.
*The revamped Prince Mohammed bin Abdul-Aziz international airport in Madinah is expected to handle 8 million passengers annually.
*Al Khobbar/Dammam will have an additional 1200 hotel rooms by 2014.
These indicators are rich enough to project a positive road map for the overall tourism and travel industry in the Middle East region. Several global hotel brands have aggressive expansion plans in the region which will also fuel growth.
If you are a hotel in the Middle East, where tourism and travel industry is getting ready to jettison, a good hotel software is what can help you capitalize on the foreseeable future. A robust hotel software should help you automate processes, allow you greater visibility into the hotel functioning and reduce the pressure on your staff.
Today, guests too are getting technology savvy, thus having hotel software that responds to their needs is important. A growing number of potential guests research their stay online; locate hotels, view pictures and then book rooms. Besides strong hotel software, ensure you have interfaces to a web booking engine and GDS as well. This ensures you reach a wider audience and grow the occupancy at your hotel.
If you are looking for quality hotel software that can help you meet the changing technology needs of your region and enhance profitability, IDS NEXT could well be your answer. We are a 25 year old hospitality technology provider and have 3200 customers world-wide including a large presence in the Middle East. Some of the countries we are present in, include UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, and several others.
Source: IDS Softwares Pvt. Ltd. IDS NEXT, is a global leader in providing ERP and total technology solutions for the Hospitality and Leisure industries.
