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Bahrain hospitality sector 'recovering'

Manama, May 8, 2011

Bahrain's hospitality industry is on the road to recovery with five-star hotels reporting an average occupancy rate of 30 per cent.

They had fallen to as low as 5 per cent during February and March, but almost all hotels had now reached between 15 per cent and 30 per cent, said Bahrain Tourism Company chief executive officer and Five Star Hotels executive committee chairman Abdulnabi Daylami.

He revealed occupancy rates in some establishments had also risen to 80 per cent. The usual occupancy of five-star hotels in Bahrain is between 60 per cent and 65 per cent.

"What we were doing before (the unrest) was double to now but the road looks hopeful going forward," Daylami told the Gulf Daily News, our sister newspaper.

"Those conferences and events scheduled to be held in Bahrain are coming back. All the confidence we had that the market would come back soon looks right.

"I'm very much optimistic that rapidly we are catching up and improving. The main thing for us now is to catch the business travel and that those postponed seminars and conferences are rescheduled to come back to Bahrain."

Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa, group managing director of the Caravan Group of Hotels, which includes the Delmon International Hotel, the Adhari Hotel and the Aradous Hotel, said business was improving but slower than expected.

He said although the King Fahad Causeway re-opened in mid-April and the occupancy rate was between 38 per cent and 45 per cent, before the unrest it had been between 70 per cent and 80 per cent.

"The amount of Saudis coming now is less than usual, business is not coming from Saudi, but coming from corporates," said Shaikh Mohammed.

"I'm hoping it will speed up from Saudi because I see very few rooms being taken by Saudis. We are just above losing, I think it will break even or a bit below but it's very low compared to before."

Shaikh Mohammed said because business was down many of his staff were still on vacation or had left.

He said he was trying to encourage customers by offering cheaper room prices and there was also a plan to have a regional roadshow to attract business.

"We are trying to do a roadshow through Gulf Air with the help of Culture Ministry's tourism department," said Shaikh Mohammed.

"We asked for a relief package from the government through the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry and hopefully they can do something - one was suspending the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) fees and that has been done.

"They should suspend some of the expenses, especially municipality fees until we get back on our feet. We need an incentive programme to lift us up from what we are in. We will get back on our feet but it's just a matter of time."

Business is starting to pick up for Bahrain's restaurants, with some doing better than others.

The Meat Company restaurant in Adliya has its business improve significantly since March and almost return to normal, said the firm's regional manager for Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia Hussain Al Araibi.

"Things are definitely improving and definitely better than March, business is picking up and people are enjoying themselves," he said.

"We have Saudis coming in and business is (almost) normal, there is a drop of 10 per cent to 20 per cent, but in March that was about 40 per cent and April was a good month."

Paolo Arca, managing partner of the Italian restaurant Oliveto in Adliya, said business was improving slowly but expects the recovery to take more time.

"Business is improving but needs a little time because a lot of people are not coming to Bahrain," he said.

"In January business was very good and better than before but in February with the protests business was down, it needs time and we need to wait and pray."

Business is also improving at Upstairs Downstairs restaurant in Adliya but is still not back to normal, said financial and administration manager Sujith Ramadas.

"After the causeway opened it was excellent and weekends are really good and we are getting a lot of customers from Saudi," he said.
 "I would say we are getting about 80 per cent of our clients from Saudi that used to come.

"Weekdays it's a little bit quiet, but much better than three weeks before.
 During February it was 50 per cent down and March 60 per cent down, but now between 25 per cent and 30 per cent down." - TradeArabia News Service

 




Tags: Bahrain | hotel | hopitality | Restuarant |

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