Dubai’s Burj al Arab sees big boost in Chinese guests ahead of New Year celebrations

Dubai’s iconic Burj al Arab saw a boost in Chinese guests arriving in the city this weekend to take part in festivities to celebrate the start of the Year of the Goat, a spokesperson confirmed.

“China remains among the top three source markets for Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, with demand from the Chinese market increasing year-on-year. Over the last few years, we have enjoyed healthy growth in the occupancy rates of the Chinese visitors during the Chinese New Year period. In 2014, Chinese occupancy during Chinese New Year stood at 79 percent. We expect to maintain similar levels of business as the country celebrates the advent of the Year of the Goat,” a spokesperson from Jumeirah Group told Arabian Business.

“Burj Al Arab Jumeirah will be celebrating Chinese New Year on Villa Beach looking out over the hotel, with a host of VIPs, the traditional painting of the lion’s eyes, a Lion Dance and firework display.”

The sail-shaped hotel on a manmade island off the coast of Dubai has proved particularly popular with wealthy Chinese tourists and the luxury hotel has pursued several marketing strategies to boost its profile in China.

Last year, two Jumeirah Group hotels – Burj Al Arab and Mina A’Salam at Madinat Jumeirah – appeared in an episode of reality TV game show ‘The Amazing Race China’.

Filmed between October 18-22, the episode of the show saw contestants from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan stay at Mina A’Salam at Madinat Jumeirah for four days.

Contestants had to travel around the hotels and Dubai to carry out a series of challenges and tasks for the programme, which is shown on primetime TV in China.

“We were delighted to support The Amazing Race China - one of the country’s most popular reality TV shows,” said Jumeirah Group chief commercial officer Alison Broadhead.

“China is a significant market where Jumeirah Group is currently expanding its portfolio of hotels and resorts and we were honoured to partner with the show which was filmed at various locations within Burj Al Arab Jumeirah and the Madinat Jumeirah.

“We recently announced Jumeirah Group will operate three new hotels in key Chinese cities, bringing our pipeline of new properties in the country to eight, in addition to the stylish Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel in Shanghai, which has been operating successfully since 2011,” she added.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi are two of the destinations included in the show, which will feature a further 10 cities, including New York, Vossburg and Texas in the United States, New Delhi and Jaipur in India, Athens and Santorini in Greece, Seoul in Korea and Hong Kong and Shenzhen in China.

The filming at Burj Al Arab Jumeirah and Madinat Jumeirah will run for approximately two hours of the Dubai episode.