EFT Travel Distribution Middle East 2008Rotana Hotels & Resorts has a vision to open a Rotana Hotel in every major city in the Middle East.

Published: 19 Jun 2008

EFT Travel Distribution Middle East 2008

Rotana Hotels & Resorts has a vision to open a Rotana Hotel in every major city in the Middle East.

The hotel management company says its strength is the understanding of the Middle Eastern Culture and combining it with international standards of hospitality to meet every expectations of its guests, owners and employees, according to Sathis M. Aravinda, e-Distribution Manager, Emirate of Abu Dhabi & Al Ain, Rotana Hotels & Resorts.

"We have a very strong strategic approach... how we secure our presence and market share, online and offline sales. Electronic distribution plays a major role in our sales and marketing strategies. With a significant growth over the last three years, several technological advancements, strengthening of distribution partnerships and long-term strategy for direct online sales have been the key areas for us," he said.

Specifically, on the role of hotel direct online and 3rd party Internet channels in this region, he said the shift to online buying behaviour is not as high as in Europe and the US.

"This is influenced by few factors such as regional cultural behaviour, tourist attractions, strong DMCs, demand versus supply, online security among others. Having said the same, we all know that the market is projected to witness an increment of 25% in direct online sales by 2015. Some of the major players in the Middle East market have almost reached the projected targets through direct online sales, where as some of the minor players haven't even reached 2%. Until then, 3rd party Internet channels will certainly get the major portion of the web business. Hence, it is important to work closely with the 3rd party OTAs. At the same, it has to be ensured that this doesn't influences the long term strategy of the individual hotels or the hotel chain," he said.

On factors influencing the decision to go ahead with online channels, Aravinda pointed out that online is still only a portion of the total business of the hotel. "This factor also depends on the sales and marketing strategy of the hotel - what percentage of inventory that you want to sell online and how you are going to achieve it."

Aravinda agreed that there is also a need to consider the `hidden' costs of online sales be it consumer advertising, web search engine optimisation and IT personnel.

"The hidden costs of online sales, UGC, and market demand are few factors which hoteliers should think about when driving online sales and at the same time not harming their productive segments and channels," he said.

Aravinda doesn't feel that the hotel direct channel is becoming less important as the Internet grows and single image inventory becomes the standard across all hotels.

"For most of the Middle East hotels, direct channels are the most productive channels. Think about the traditional sales team, they play a major role in selling the hotel products. On the other hand, personalised touch to each sales deal is very important and online sales so far has not met this. The shift from direct to online is influenced by the regional culture and buying behaviour of the consumer as well," he said.