The five-star Al Diar Siji Hotel in Fujairah, managed by Abu Dhabi National Hotels (ADNH), said that for the first two months of 2010, its online booking has increased by 250 per cent compared to the same period last year.

“In 2009, we witnessed continuous increase in our room production through Internet booking from January to December and we anticipate this trend to be the same for 2010,” said Fouad Melhem, the hotel’s general manager.

“We are looking forward to a steady increase in Internet booking towards the end of 2010 even in this difficult year,” he added.

The hotel’s Internet bookings for 2009 surged with figures closing at more than triple compared to those for 2008. The figures cover both direct booking on the hotel’s website and through GDS partners.

“Internet booking is really a growing channel, but aside from this, we attribute the significant increase of our internet bookings to the fact that we have also increased our online marketing budget, and we plan to continue to maximise this channel to bring in more business to the hotel,” explained Melhem.

“This year, we will also be revamping our website, and we will employ other online marketing initiatives including website optimisation, email marketing, online display advertising and social media strategies,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service