An increase in the number of Russian tourists in Dubai thanks to a stronger rouble is enough to spur hotels to roll out promotions to attract more guests during the Orthodox Christmas weekend.
The number of Russian visitors to Dubai traditionally picks up towards the end of the year spilling into January. Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on January 7 and school holidays extend until January 10.
At the all-inclusive, five-star Rixos the Palm, almost 45 per cent of the guests this weekend are from Russia and Ukraine, compared with 37 per cent last year, according to a spokeswoman at the hotel.
The hotel also hosted concerts of the Turkish DJ Mahmut Orhan, whose music is popular in Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, yesterday and the Romanian singer Inna today.
The Dubai-based operator Hospitality Management Holdings hotels is offering deals for stays at its Ajman Palace Hotel, Coral Beach Resort Sharjah and Coral Dubai Deira Hotel in the UAE.
About 120 Russian guests are booked into the Ajman Palace Hotel this weekend.
The rouble gained 17.5 per cent last year against the US dollar as a rebound in oil prices helped the energy-exporting country improve its economic outlook. The rouble had plummeted by 20 per cent against the US dollar in 2015 as the oil price-rout hit economic growth. Brent crude was trading at above US$56 a barrel yesterday compared with $36.42 a barrel a year ago.
“We are kind of past that [turmoil] and expect a great wholesale business this year from the Russian market,” said Ferghal Purcell, the general manager at Ajman Palace Hotel. The CIS is its top source market.
For one of the tour operators in the luxury market in Dubai, the number of Russian guests in January has remained steady.
“We expected to do better this month than the last as the rouble had strengthened, oil prices stabilised and destinations such as Egypt and Turkey are closed due to the security reasons,” said Dennis Dolmatov, the business development manager at Destinations of the World. “But there were some last minute delays in visa issuance for Russians.”
His company deals with travellers for hotels that have an average room rate of $500 per night.
“I expect to have an increase of 10 to 20 per cent in the number of bookings this year,” he said.
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