Luxurious Arabian hospitality
Pierre Ghorayeb, General Manager, Telal Resort, says the luxury desert resort offers its guests an opportunity to live the Arabian experience through high service standards, and various leisure and traditional activities.
Noting that the hospitality industry in the emirates is growing very fast and changing the scenario of demand and supply, Ghorayeb says technology plays a vital role in global approach today way more than what was expected a few years ago.
The guests have changed with time and they are quite aware of the products purchased hence, as hoteliers or hospitality partners, we are kept in check time and again. “We have to speed up with the technology trend and not be left behind,” he adds.
The resort offers especially handcrafted tent villas designed to portray the utmost scenery of tradition blended with modern luxury. Ghorayeb describes the property as a “heritage village where the history, culture and traditions of the Emiratis are brought to life to recreate the traditional Bedouin experience.” The resort is focusing on enhancing its products, implementing new activities such as ziplining, zorbing balls, launching a new Emirati restaurant in mid of October, and a new luxury SPA. Another unique feature of Telal Resort is hunting. It is the only resort where hunting of exotic animals like Arabian oryx, reem gazelle and domani is legal.
A majority of the guests at hotel come from the Middle East and Europe, who are interested in discovering Arabian heritage, desert and wildlife. A good mix of 70 per cent leisure and 30 per cent corporate and stopover guests visit the resort. “Our team is aggressively approaching the GCC and international markets, and we are also meeting international business partners to explain them our unique resort concept,” he says.
On the latest trends in trade in the UAE, Ghorayeb reveals that, “the staycation trend witnessed a positive growth as well Airbnb that enables people to list, find, then rent vacation homes.”
He says the resort participates in all the major international trade exhibitions like ITB, WTM, ADIHEX, FITUR, TOP RESA, COTTAM, and Arabian Travel Market. “A constant business growth rate has been achieved for the year 2015 and by participating at WTM, and ITB we are aiming for a larger international market share,” he adds. “The political situation in the Middle East area in general is affecting the hotel industry, yet the tourism business in the UAE is still stable due to the wise decisions taken by its leaders,” Ghorayeb adds.
Ghorayeb started his hospitality career in 1977 and has since worked for international brands like Holiday Inn, Meridien, Rotana and Millennium. His new role as General Manager of Telal Resorts entails motivating a large hotel team to deliver service standards and driving a sales and marketing strategy.
We are aggressively approaching the GCC and international markets. We are also meeting international partners to explain our resort concept