The tourism and hospitality industries in Dubai are expecting record numbers of visitors during April and May due to the large number of events taking place in the emirate. Hotel occupancy will maintain high levels, which will have a positive impact on the annual revenues in the tourism sector.
The Arabian Travel Market (ATM) and the Indian Premier League are some of the most popular events held in April and May, which will attract a huge wave of visitors. Dubai is also seeing 14,500 Chinese tourists from cosmetics company Nu Skin touring the emirate. The Arabian Hotel Investment Conference in May will also boost the number of business travelers, while during the Easter Holidays, Dubai will attract many regional and international leisure tourists.
According to data from the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce marketing (DCTCM), guests across city hotels, vacation villas and resorts in April 2013 were 929,000 and 910,000 in May. This marked an increase of 13 and 16 percent respectively in comparison with numbers from the same period in 2012, says Issam Kadzim, CEO of DCTCM.
Hotel revenues are predicted to rise by 8-10 percent this month from April 2012, while in May, there will be no significant growth due to the end of the tourists season. Higher revenues are expected due to the strong occupancy levels combined with revenues from food and beverages. The various events and conferences and the attractive Easter vacations will increase occupancy to over 85 percent. Some hoteliers are also expecting full occupancy levels for lodgings located near event venues.
Meanwhile, hotel research firm STR Global released their latest report on hotel development and room numbers in MENA. It says that around 130 new hotels with a total of 27,775 rooms are expected to open in 2014. As of March, the hotel development pipeline in the MENA region features 573 hotels with 137,193 rooms overall. In February, the firm estimated that 16,627 rooms were under development across the UAE.
Latest data from the DCTCM shows that currently Dubai has 612 operating hotels with 85,000 rooms and by 2016, 140 new hotels are expected to open which will add around 30,000 rooms.
