The Middle East’s leading hotel supplies exhibition enters its final day tomorrow (Wednesday) with strong signs that the record number of exhibitors from around the world will share major business gains as a result of their appearance at The Hotel Show in Dubai.
With a steady flow of hotel owners, developers and purchasing managers descending on Airport Expo Dubai during the first two days, the mood on the exhibition floor was highly positive, as a huge range of products and services for the hospitality industry found a receptive audience.
“The feedback we’re getting is that the quality of visitors is very high, and many exhibitors say they expect to secure a significant amount of new business,” said Joanne Evans, director of The Hotel Show organisers, Streamline Marketing, on the second day of the event today (Tuesday).
Exhibiting together in Dubai for the first time, a group of four Italian companies, makers of elegant lighting, luxury hotel furnishings, porcelain and silver-plated serving items, believe their appearance at The Hotel Show could lead to strong business gains.
Simone Marioni, managing director of hotel interior decor specialists Paolo Marioni from Florence said: “We have already supplied hotels in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Lebanon, as well as clients across Italy and the rest of the world, and we’re here to test the Middle East market because we believe it could become one of our biggest overseas.”
Held under the patronage of H.H.General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, UAE Minister of Defence, and chairman of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, the exhibition has attracted a hugely diverse range of products and services vital to a hotel’s day-to-day running.
While many exhibitors are launching new products, a group of British businessmen have used The Hotel Show to introduce their new company, Opus, which offers turnkey hospitality and leisure solutions by combining their individual expertise in entertainment, sound and lighting production and interior design.
With a British base and a manufacturing facility in Thailand, the company recently established an office at Dubai’s Media City, and operation director Ray Hogan said: “The potential for new business here is huge, and this exhibition brings us into contact with all the right people.” The company expects quick growth for its interior design division, and anticipates strong hotel demand for its expertise in providing high quality affordable entertainment, by recruiting live bands and TV celebrities, and handling full sound and lighting production.
American furniture manufacturer W.Schillig has linked up in Dubai with Dutch fabric specialists Derbri to launch an idea which could produce big savings in hotel furnishings in the Middle East.
They are displaying Butterfly micro fibre upholstered sofas and chairs and a secret formula cleaning spray which, it is claimed, means that any stains can be removed in seconds.
“We have tested everything you can imagine, including ink, and various foods and drinks, and we still haven’t found a substance we can’t clean away,” said Derbri sales manager Bernd Kraeusslien. He said the same combination of fabric and cleaner has passed stringent automotive tests by Jaguar, and apart from the savings on re-upholstering, the fabric is said to cost half the price of others in the market. |
