On Behalf of

Business & Finance Club - Tourism - Dubai: Jumeirah Group, which operates the Burj Al Arab hotel, Wednesday said it has diversified its portfolio into the lifestyle market by announcing a new brand, Venu Hotels. The group also said high occupancy in February to April was accompanied by robust average room rates. "Coupled with the robust performance of our business hotels in London and New York this gives us renewed confidence in rolling out our growth strategy and in confirming our plans to introduce a second brand later this year," said Gerald Lawless, executive chairman of Jumeirah Group.

Beachfront hotels, including Jumeirah Beach Hotel and the Madinat Jumeirah, registered occupancies of 92.5 per cent in April and an average of 89 per cent in February and March. Jumeirah Emirates Towers recorded occupancy of over 75 per cent for the February-March period, reflecting an upturn in the business and corporate markets, a Jumeirah statement said.

High turnover

In New York, Jumeirah Essex House has experienced average occupancy rates of 85 per cent during April, with strong business on the books for the late spring and summer seasons, it said. Jumeirah Group's London properties — Jumeirah Carlton Towers and Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel — show similar strength in performance, it added.

"It is a brave move to launch a new brand at this time. Having said that, it shows commitment to the market and hotel groups can't just sit around and do nothing. It is a dynamic move by Jumeirah," said John Podaras, associate director at TRI Hospitality Consulting Middle East.

Venu Hotels' location will be revealed later this year. In the meantime, the hospitality company is busy negotiating with interested developers in the MENA region as well as APAC and Eastern Europe, hinting at Venu becoming a global brand.

The brand, Jumeirah said, will "fulfil a clear market need and one that is highly complementary to the Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts brand".

"We are looking forward to a busy and exciting period opening new hotels, attracting new guests and introducing a new hotel brand concept to the world," said Lawless, who when contacted by Gulf News wouldn't reveal any further details.

Industry analysts expect the Jumeirah Group to stick to the high end of the hospitality market even as it builds several differentiated upper-segment brands. "The Jumeirah concept has always been directed at the high end. My gut feeling is that they will stick with the upmarket theme and are creating a high-end lifestyle brand for the market to understand the differentiation of their brands," Podaras said.

The Jumeirah Group is not losing sight of its flagship brand, however. It expects to open 10 Jumeirah hotels — in the UAE and the region as well as globally — within the next one and a half years. New openings will result in 60 hotels in its portfolio by 2012.

In addition to the 11 Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts currently operated by the group, Jumeirah has 32 management agreements in place to run hotels in key locations across the world. The company expects to open at least 10 new hotels within the next 18 months including Jumeirah Frankfurt, Jumeirah Messilah Beach in Kuwait, two hotels in the Maldives, Jumeirah Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi, as well as properties in Al Ain, Dubai, Shanghai and others to be confirmed in the coming months.