The Leading Hotels of the World road show has kicked off, travelling across the GCC from April 1 to 4.
Featuring 19 luxury properties and one cruise operator, the members of the luxury hospitality organisation will visit Kuwait, Dubai, Riyadh and Jeddah.
The nine participating hotels from the region include Al Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh and the new Banyan Tree Desert Spa & Resort, Al Areen in Bahrain.
Michael Lutze, director of sales, Middle East, The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd, said it was vital for travel agents specialising in luxury travel to participate.
“We understand that it is an enormous challenge for travel consultants to keep up to date with industry developments and to understand the unique selling points of our properties,” he said.
“The road show offers them an opportunity to learn crucial facts about our members and at the same time establish or deepen personal business relationships with them..”
Referring to outbound trends, Lutze noted that while popular European countries such as Paris, London, Munich, Marbella and Switzerland were still proving popular with the local luxury traveller, Leading Hotels has witnessed a rise in demand for cities such as Prague, Vienna, Brussels, Rome and Milan.
“The Middle Eastern traveller has been an integral and vital part of our clientele for several decades now and our hotels are very well geared to accommodate these guests and to provide the services and amenities necessary to make them feel comfortable,” he said.
Lutze reminded agents that Leading Hotels has toll-free numbers in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE and is open every day from 09:00 to 20:00, closed on Fridays only.
“Our highly trained reservation agents speak English and Arabic, and are able to make recommendations and give assistance with travel plans,” he said.
“Besides having access to last room availability in all of our member hotels, as well as a wide variety of special rates and packages, we also offer a full concierge style service and can therefore arrange transfers, excursions, restaurant and theatre booking, meeting rooms, spa and gold appointments etc, making our office, a comprehensive, one-stop travel shop.”
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