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Mohamed Awadalla, CEO of UAE-based Time Hotels, said ESG (environmental, social and governance), technology and affordability were key travel trends at the recently concluded global travel fair ITB Berlin.
During the three days of the show, the team from TIME Hotels spoke to hundreds of travel professionals and found that climate change, social responsibility, ethical management, technology and affordability were particularly prominent among Gen Z and Millennial travelers.
“Climate change is clearly the most important issue. As a media-savvy generation, we find that they want to see tangible evidence that hotels are making a concerted effort to reduce carbon emissions, whether it’s eliminating single-use plastics and toiletries, installing LED lighting, water diffusers controllers, recycling jobs, air conditioner regulators or solar panels,” Awadalla said.
“Some even check that hotels participate in carbon offset schemes and adopt net zero strategies. Addressing their environmental impact is critical if hotels are to take market share from this demographic,” he added.
Another issue that is very important to Gen Z and millennial travelers is workforce diversity and inclusion, according to ITB’s TIME executives. They believe that culturally representative hotel staff and management strategies that empower women provide a rich experience for guests.
“Obviously, the health and wellbeing of employees and support for local community programs and charitable contributions are also of great concern to them,” Awadalla said.
Affordability is also a key issue. Although traditionally, the German outbound travel market is dominated by cold and hot, young travelers prefer to have shorter vacations, which are more suitable for their work-life balance.
Awadalla added: “Younger travelers we interviewed were also more inclined to choose value-for-money options, such as four-star hotels, rather than five-star luxury beach resorts, to further stretch their annual holiday budgets.”
Attracting more than 90,000 participants, the show is one of the world’s largest travel trade events and is considered a key indicator of European travel trends. Germany is an important tourist source market for Dubai. Last year, Germany received 422,000 tourists, making it one of Dubai’s top ten tourist source markets. As such, the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) at ITB has supported a number of emirates hotel companies including TIME Hotels.
“Technology is another area of interest, but not at the expense of personalization. They love the convenience of technology, especially mobile apps that seamlessly digitize their journey, From initial booking to check-out to flight home. But they also want to interact with staff and other guests to make their stay as enjoyable and enriching as possible,” says Awadalla.
Launched in Dubai in 2012, TIME Hotels initially launched six hotels in Dubai and Sharjah before expanding its portfolio to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and most recently Morocco.
“TIME is an independent local brand built on four pillars – environmental concerns, employee wellbeing, social responsibility and ethical governance. Over 10% of our current staff have been with us for over a decade.
“Our success is due to our independence, which gives us the flexibility to respond quickly to market trends and wider societal issues,” Awadalla said. – trade arab news agency
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