Sunday 26 July 2009

Discounts keep Atlantis Hotel's rooms full

Guests are almost filling the Atlantis in Dubai as a result of the resort’s aggressive advertising of value deals, despite the ailing state of the emirate’s hotel sector, its top executive says.

When the US$1.5 billion (Dh5.5bn), 1539-room resort opened on the man-made Palm Jumeirah last September, success seemed assured. The Atlantis celebrated its opening two months later with a $20 million launch party, attended by a host of celebrities including the actor Robert de Niro, singer Janet Jackson and business magnate Sir Richard Branson, to name but a few.

But shortly afterwards, the economy soured considerably. The Atlantis, along with the rest of Dubai’s hotel industry, was hit hard by a slowdown in global tourism, with falling revenues exacerbated by the ever-increasing number of hotels opening for business. “There has been no question that the economic environment has been tough,” says Alan Leibman, the president and managing director of Kerzner International Management. Kerzner International developed the Atlantis with Istithmar, an investment arm of Dubai World.

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