ACCOMMODATION

The first of the regional heats will take place this May at The Armani Hotel in Dubai and will see Middle East companies battle it out for the World Travel Awards trophies. This will be followed closely by ceremonies in Jamaica, Antalya, Egypt and Bangkok.

Ramada Hotel & Suites Ajman and Ramada Downtown Dubai, a premier destination for business and leisure travellers, will participate in the upcoming ITB Berlin Exhibition, an international B2B travel and trade show held in Germany every year.

Mr Mahmoud said it was an established trend among operators in the luxury properties market, including Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton, to have private residences incorporated into a hotel. The Armani hotel in the Burj Khalifa also uses this model.

Rezidor has opened its second Hotel Missoni in Kuwait in collaboration with the Italian fashion house Missoni, becoming the second Missoni property of Rezidor. Inspired by the Persian Gulf and the culture of Kuwait, the hotel combines the signature use of vibrant patterns and bold colours with strong accents of turquoise, green and gold.

The industry is divided as to which tourist destinations in Egypt will recover from the aftermath of the recent 18-day uprising the fastest. “Cairo is likely to recover first and then secondary destinations such as Alexandria and resort destinations by the Red Sea, like Sharm El Sheikh, Hurgada and Luxor to mention a few,” said Goddard.

Could the dramatic events in the Middle East ultimately be a bonus to the luxury industry? For John Hooks, deputy chairman and director at Giorgio Armani, the Middle East is not new territory, with Dubai the home of the first Armani hotel and with the brand’s strong presence in the Gulf region. “Until the present disturbances, the three major factors that have determined the evolution of the market have been the price of oil, the generational change in the ruling class and the demographic explosion,”

Still haven’t figured out what you’re doing this Valentine’s Day? How typically Dubai! With accommodation in an Armani Suite, the price tag includes breakfast, a bouquet from Armani/Fiori, a bottle of a bubbly, a tailor-made five-course Valentine’s dinner at Armani/Ristorante, and to elevate things a notch or two, a single complimentary access pass to At the Top, Burj Khalifa, the observatory deck of the world’s tallest building.

These hospitality enterprises have proved to be successful and are multiplying. Missoni, for example, opened their Missoni Hotel in Edinburgh in 2008, it is now opening another Hotel in Kuwait on March of this year, and plans to open another two in Oman and Brazil by 2012. Armani opened in 2010 the Armani Hotel Dubai and coming soon are the Armani Hotels in Milan, Marrakech, Marassi, London, New York, Shanghai, and Tokyo.

Pink Slip Dubai, the UAE's pioneering recruitment and HR networking group teamed up recently with Hot Hoteliers, a leading hospitality networking group, to host a high-level recruitment forum that discussed the current state of recruitment within the local hospitality sector. Gerald Lawless, Executive Chairman of Jumeirah Group, was the keynote speaker of the night, addressing an audience of over 250 industry professionals on the importance of human capital to an organization and the ongoing need to train and develop staff.

Located in Dubai's re-created "Old Town", where an Arabian Nights mood prevails, the 242-room Palace provides a serene and refreshingly un-flashy accommodation option for Aussies enjoying a shop-over en route to Europe. One of five hotels operated in Dubai by The Address group, the sand-coloured Palace perches on the edge of a surreal blue lake (boasting more dancing fountains than Las Vegas’s Bellagio) with views of the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, and easy access to the Dubai Mall, claimed to be the world’s largest shopping centre.