Gulf hospitality industry shrugs off war concerns

October 3, 2024, 2:36 AM

Speaking at the Future Hospitality Summit, Accor's CEO Sébastien Bazin said safety of the company's teams is a priority regional tensions — Speaking at the Future Hospitality Summit, Accor's CEO Sébastien Bazin said safety of the company's teams is a priority

Future Hospitality Summit in Dubai
Industry professionals remain upbeat
UAE proud of ‘safety protocols’

Middle East hospitality veterans downplayed concerns over wider regional tensions this week, saying the industry has survived crises before and is poised to do so again.

Government officials and corporate executives spoke during the Future Hospitality Summit, which is taking place in Dubai this week, just as military action intensified in Israel, Lebanon and Iran, amid fears of a wider regional conflict.

“Every year we have a tragedy somewhere, every single year. It could be the climate, a war, it could be anything,” said Sébastien Bazin, group chairman and chief executive at Accor, a hotel company with headquarters in Paris.

“The only thing you can do, wherever we have a tragic incident or war, we never ever leave the country, we have so many people on the ground, we make sure they are safe,” Bazin said.

Global airlines have suspended flights to and from affected cities such as Beirut and Tel Aviv on multiple occasions over the past few months. Countries near the conflict, including Jordan and Iraq, have had to close their airspace twice so far when Iran has fired missiles against Israel.

Despite the growing uncertainty, the UAE remains confident that its long-standing reputation as an especially safe country will reassure even nervous travellers.

“For years the region has always had conflict, but the UAE leadership has the openness, safety, security … that’s what we offer… and people know about that,” said Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, UAE minister of economy and chairman of the Tourism Council.

“It is something we are very proud of, that we have the utmost security and safety protocols in the UAE.”

The seven emirates received 15 million hotel guests in the first six months of this year, a 10.5 percent increase from 2023, according to ministry data.

In Dubai, Western Europeans made up 20 percent of arrivals, followed by South Asians with 17 percent and Russians, Central Asians and Eastern Europeans with 15 percent, research from Emirates NBD found.

Redeet Negate, a Dubai resident from the Netherlands who runs a holiday home business called SmartStay, said he has not seen any “any negative impacts from any conflicts right now” and that “Dubai tends to be a safe place for people” even when the situation outside becomes more volatile.

Over the weekend, the UK Foreign Office warned British citizens to exercise added caution when visiting more than a dozen countries in the Middle East – including the UAE, Oman, Morocco and Jordan – amid the “ongoing hostilities” between Israel and Lebanon and a “high threat” of terrorist attacks across the region.

Christina Brazier, the UK-based head of industry for The Specialist Travel Association (AITO), said the travel warnings aim “to raise awareness, not to discourage travel”.

“While certain areas are directly impacted by the conflict, a number of the locations highlighted by the FCDO [Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office] are far from the affected regions and remain open as usual to travellers, with local businesses keen to welcome visitors,” she said.

An Emirates airline spokesperson said that flights from the UK to Dubai remain full.

The Australian government issued a similar alert, while many nations around the world have actively warned citizens against any travel to Lebanon and Israel.

Hoteliers with operations in Beirut say those are struggling, but remain open as they become a shelter for staff, their families, as well as the journalists, diplomatic and aid workers that are likely to arrive as the situation on the ground worsens.

“Obviously our hearts go out completely to our teams in Beirut,” said Philip Barnes, chief executive of Rotana, an Emirati hotel chain. “Both hotels – and this may come as a surprise – they’re actually busy. But they’re busy taking care of people and trying to do their best.”

Philip Barnes, chief executive of Rotana, an Emirati hotel chain, said: “Our hearts go out completely to our teams in Beirut”

The hospitality executives said they are monitoring developments closely, preparing contingency plans, and are ready to react in support of hotel owners, clients and staff if the current crisis escalates further.

“That our global companies are looking at the Middle East as a not always a stable destination, this is known. It is nothing new to us. It just tells us to be vigilant, to be open, to listen and to act in case something happens,” said Siegfried Nierhaus, H World International’s head of development for the Middle East, India and Africa.

“We need to make [the cost structure] as lean as possible in order to be able to adjust,” he said.

Against a complicated short-term backdrop, industry professionals are optimistic that tourism growth for the region will not be affected over the longer term.

“Investors generally look at the long term. So yes, instead of having 10 live projects, you may have three live projects,” said Elie Milky, vice president for development at the Radisson Hotel Group.

“And some investors take more risk, are more resilient, they look more at the long-term impact, and they find adversity to be the right time to develop to be ready for the good times.”