Dubai’s vibrant hotel industry set to increase capacity to 160,000 by 2020

Since 1999, following the opening of the Burj Al Arab, Jumeirah’s Group’s iconic property that ensured Dubai’s place on the world’s luxury stage, an average of 17 new hotels were being launched each year in Dubai.

Dubai: The thriving hospitality industry of Dubai, recording consistently high occupancy rates and sustained expansion, is on track to boost capacity to 160,000 by 2020.

In the first half of 2014, Dubai welcomed more than 5.8 million tourists. — Kt file photo

Since 1999, Dubai’s vibrant hotel industry has been on a phenomenal growth. From 378 properties comprising 254 hotels and 124 hotel apartments, offering a total of 25,188 room keys, Dubai’s hotel has expanded to include a further 256 properties to reach a total of 634 establishments and 88,888 room keys — an increase of over 350 per cent, according to data released by the organisers of the Hotel Show Dubai 2014.

Issam Abdul Rahim Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, who will be making the keynote address at the show opening on September 28, said the event plays a key role for Dubai and the hospitality sector, helping to attract new investment, showcase Dubai and contribute to ultimately make the emirate one of the world’s most visited cities.

“As we work towards Dubai’s Tourism Vision including attracting 20 million annual visitors by 2020, a key focus is ensuring a consistent growth of the emirate’s hotel inventory to ensure we cater for current and future demand. The Hotel Show is an important step towards achieving our ambitious targets,” said Kazim.

Since 1999, following the opening of the Burj Al Arab, Jumeirah’s Group’s iconic property that ensured Dubai’s place on the world’s luxury stage, an average of 17 new hotels were being launched each year in Dubai.

Christine Davidson, Event Director of the Hotel Show, said the event would continue to attract decision-making hotel, hospitality and leisure professionals. “In addition, future mega events to be held in the region such as Dubai’s Expo 2020 are creating a wealth of new opportunities in hospitality for the city.”

In the first half of 2014, Dubai welcomed more than 5.8 million tourists — the highest number of visitors ever achieved in the first six months of the year. As Dubai aims to become one of the top 10 sustainable cities in the world, The Hotel Show Dubai is a platform for those influencing the evolution of the global hospitality and leisure industry; design and architecture trends and green legislation are just two of the event’s areas of focus, said Davidson.

Expert speakers will be profiled and dedicated features revealed to inspire and educate its visitors in these and other key areas of focus for the region’s hospitality industry, organisers said.

The UAE is already among the top five countries in the world for new hotel openings over the past five years. The UAE also has the longest pipeline of rooms under construction with an additional 32,107 rooms in the offing while the Middle East/Africa hotel development pipeline comprises 483 hotels totaling 117,450 rooms.

Massive-scale expansion of international airports in the UAE, including what promises to be world’s largest — Al Maktoum International with a capacity for 160 million annual passengers — and the fast pace of growth being recorded by the country’s three industry-leading airlines have already been driving a relentless surge in the number of international visitors and holidaymakers to the UAE.

As a result, almost all hotels across the UAE have been reporting impressive occupancy rate as well as steady growth in average daily rate, or ADR.

Standard and Chartered has estimated that the Expo 2020 would have positive implications on three key parts of the economy: housing, infrastructure and hospitality.

On the hospitality front, the authorities estimate that 25 million people are likely to visit the Expo, of which 70 per cent will come from outside the UAE.

“We see the hotel sector as one of the main beneficiaries of growth generated by the event. To accommodate the significant inflow of tourists, the hotel stock will have to expand. Since 70 per cent of the 25 million visitors are expected to come from outside the UAE, Dubai will need to accommodate 17.5 million tourists in the months around the Expo,” it said.

Dubai will require around $43 billion to significantly upgrade its infrastructure for Expo 2020 that may generate additional revenues in the range of $25-35 billion, studies show.