SAY Studio’s XR software saves hotel operators 50%

Dubai based design and architectural firm, SAY Studio announces the availability of its extended reality (XR) software that offers a real time rendering platform, which will save the anticipated time from conception to delivery, is as much as 80 per cent, and a total cost saving of up to 50 per cent.

Matthew Sexton, Managing Director at SAY Studio

Matthew Sexton, Managing Director at SAY Studio, said “It’s always been a challenge when it comes to finalizing on a design along with specific materials, as this is traditionally done firstly through 3D visualization. This can be very time consuming, especially when you factor in the number of revisions that are often required. The adaptation of existing softwares is certainly not new, however, what we have done with extended reality (XR) technology is to apply it to the design process which allows for a more immersive experience, thus reducing the time spent “optionneering”. We really are excited to bring this to the market given the several years spent refining the technology application. We will have more data once we have completed more projects, but we are anticipating savings for hospitality operators of around AED105,000 and 60 days when it comes to the mock-up room stage. The time saving is almost more important than the initial fee saving as operators will have a new room two months sooner giving them the opportunity to compete more aggressively for guests or increase the room rate.”

According to recent data from Google, many residents of the UAE have been opting for staycations, preferring to stay in country due to international travel restrictions. Google searches related to staycations in the MENA region have risen more than 400 per cent since March 2020, so while overall occupancy rates have fallen, hotel operators have still had to accommodate residents and have had to become more versatile in their offerings and flexible in their policies.

Martin Hutchinson, General Manager at Aati Contractors added “Over the past twelve months we have seen a huge increase in operators looking to refurbish their hotel. It makes sense as there is limited guest occupancy in rooms, leading to less disruption from noisy construction activity. While many restaurants are still on limited capacity, this allows them to be overhauled without impacting on the guest ‘foodie’ experience. So, it makes sense to keep up with the competition and invest in a hotel refurbishment for some of the many aging hotels in the region.”

“As contractors we are also faced with costly delays to the mock-up process. Standard timeframes from receipt of final render to delivery of approved mock-up room can be up to six months due to changes, and with the use of innovative technological advancements, we expect to see this reduced to two to three. We are really looking forward to working on new projects with SAY Studio because now more than ever our clients are looking to streamline the process and this is a terrific solution for everyone involved.”

Expo 2020 is the single, largest, anticipated boost to the hospitality industry in Dubai. It is expected to attract 25 million visitors overall, 17 million of whom will be international. Economists are expecting this to provide a huge boost to the tourism and hospitality industries and for construction firms servicing them. Quality hotels and accommodation located near the event will enjoy higher occupancy rates between October 2020 and April 2021, and there will be a need to attract clients by hotels in the key areas of Dubai.

Sexton concluded “Hotels will need to invest in refurbishing its public spaces this year if they are going to be able to claim some of the footfall from Expo. We are already seeing this happen and are working on a number of projects doing just this. A keen focus has been sustainable design alongside our renovation and refurbishment tenders.”