Premier Inn cuts Dubai room rates by 30%

The mid-market hotel chain, Premier Inn, has reduced daily room rates by 30 per cent for its Dubai properties, with daily room rates reduced to Dh350 until September 2009, as against Dh495 earlier.

The move of the UK-based company whose hotels in the GCC are operated under a joint venture between the Emirates Group and Whitbread, is in line with market trends amid financial slowdown.

Darroch Crawford, Managing Director of Premier Inn, Middle East said: "It is a pre-emptive measure to ensure our occupancy levels remain healthy. Recently it would appear that many four- and five-star luxury hotels have reduced their rates quite substantially. This reduction ensures we remain true to our brand values."

"It's important to try and stay ahead of the game when it comes to pricing," he added.

Taking into account both its UK and international hotels, Premier Inn said it has outperformed the wider hotel market, with like-for-like sales up 10.2 per cent.

Premier Inn's Dubai portfolio comprises a hotel at Dubai Investments Park (launched in April 2008), with sites under construction at Dubai Silicon Oasis and Dubai International airport, due for launch in early May and November 2009, respectively.

The company said it would start construction on two sites in Abu Dhabi shortly. It also has a joint venture with Emaar-MGF to roll out 80 budget hotels in India by 2017.

The hotel chain's global portfolio comprises more than 580 hotels and almost 40,000 rooms across the UK and Ireland.

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