A hotel that follows Islamic principles has been insulated from the economic downturn because of its Sharia niche, it said on Thursday.
As a Sharia-compliant hotel, the five-star, all-suite Tamani Hotel in Dubai Marina does not serve alcohol, the food is halal and there is a floor exclusively for women that only female members of staff are allowed to enter.
The female staff are dressed in a particularly conservative way, in keeping with Islamic tradition. The hotel's hallways are decorated with Islamic art and artefacts.
"We are enjoying very healthy occupancy to the level that we don't feel that we have been affected by what's going on around the world," said Muin Serhan, the general manager of the Tamani Hotel, which has 240 suites.
For the Eid holiday period, the hotel was nearly full, with a 95 per cent occupancy rate, Mr Serhan said. He expected occupancy rates to be about 66 per cent this month, despite the slow Ramadan period. Last month, the hotel had occupancy rates of 71 per cent. Dubai hotels overall saw occupancy levels fall to 64.1 per cent last month from 75.5 per cent in the same month last year, figures released on Thursday by STR Global showed.
Average room rates in the emirate were down to US$156.73 (Dh575.67) from $200.55 in the same month last year. As a result, revenue per available room, an important industry indicator, fell to $100.46 from $151.37.
"With Ramadan taking place from August 21 to September 19, the Middle East-Africa region dropped 21 per cent in RevPAR for August, falling for the first time behind Europe and the Americas in terms of monthly RevPAR declines," said Elizabeth Randall, the managing director of STR Global. "We expect this to be a temporary position. For the year-to-date the region still showed the least declines of all four regions."
Tamani, where a two-bedroom suite costs Dh1,000, is the first branded UAE Islamic hotel operator promoting Islamic values, according to the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM). The Tamani hotel also employs eco-friendly practices, including installing energy-saving lightbulbs and recycling water.
"This is a market niche and hotels in such niches tend to do better than standard hotels," Khalid bin Sulayem, the director general of the DTCM, said at Tamani's launch in February last year.
Mr Serhan said the hotel was just as profitable as its non-Islamic competitors, even though it had no revenues from alcohol sales.
Analysts said such hotels often attracted large families from the region, who tended to spend more money and stay for a longer period of time. "The performance of Tamani is above the benchmark," said Arnaud Andrieu, the vice president at CB Richard Ellis Hotels Middle East. Such hotels offered a "strong Arabian cultural experience", he said.
Mr Andrieu said interest in launching Sharia-compliant hotels was sparked by the success of Sharia-compliant banking. The Abu Dhabi-based hotel company Rotana, which runs some 36 hotels in the Middle East, recently created a Sharia-compliant brand called Rayhann Hotels and Resorts.
Tamani Hotel and Resorts plans to operate another three hotels in Business Bay in Dubai within the next few years.
"On the investment side, Sharia-compliant hotels provide Sharia-driven investors with investment opportunities in Sharia-compliant hospitality assets, widening the range of Sharia compliant investment products," said Chiheb ben Mahmoud at Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.
He said it was important to differentiate Sharia-compliant hotels from "dry" hotels, which simply do not serve alcohol.
Analysts said the main issue facing Sharia-compliant hotels was the lack of an independent board to certify properties as Sharia-compliant, so that they were basically self-designated.
rbundhun@thenational.ae
Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer
Christopher Celenza,
Reaktion Books
RESULTS
6.30pm Handicap (TB) US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner Golden Goal, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
7.05pm Dubai Racing Club Classic Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,410m
Winner: Walton Street, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
7.40pm Dubai Stakes Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner Switzerland, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
8.15pm Singspiel Stakes Group 3 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner Lord Giltters, Adrie de Vries, David O’Meara
8.50pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Military Law, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
9.25pm Al Fahidi Fort Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Land Of Legends, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
10pm Dubai Dash Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,000m
Winner Equilateral, Frankie Dettori, Charles Hills.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The Specs:
The Specs:
Engine: 2.9-litre, V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Power: 444bhp
Torque: 600Nm
Price: AED 356,580 incl VAT
On sale: now.
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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The biog
Name: Sarah Al Senaani
Age: 35
Martial status: Married with three children - aged 8, 6 and 2
Education: Masters of arts in cultural communication and tourism
Favourite movie: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
Favourite hobbies: Art and horseback ridding
Occupation: Communication specialist at a government agency and the owner of Atelier
Favourite cuisine: Definitely Emirati - harees is my favourite dish
Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
THE SPECS
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
Final: June 1, Madrid