Dubai welcomed five million visitors last year – one
million more than Australia – making the provision of hotel
rooms a
top priority in the emirate.
| New builds and hotel refurbishments continue apace. InterContinental recently won a contract to build a swish £100 million hotel at Dubai’s new golf club, Al Badia at Dubai Festival City, while Four Seasons has signed a letter of intent to build a hotel and manage Al Badia’s golf facilities. |
Meanwhile, Kempinski is building its first five-star hotel in
Dubai – which will boast an indoor ski slope – at the
new Mall of the Emirates. It is due to open next year.
The chain is also building the Emirates Palace, a massive resort
and conference venue due to open in Abu Dhabi at the end of the
year.
Mövenpick will open the Dubai Pearl hotel next year, while
Al Qasr, the second phase of Madinat Jumeirah, recently opened with
340 rooms.
But for all Dubai’s grand hotel plans – which aim to
cater for 15 million visitors by 2010 – the city is
struggling to find enough beds to meet demand.
Only a handful of new premises are expected to open in the next
two years – including the 115-room Bab Al Shams Desert Resort
and Spa and Grosvenor House Dubai – which will hardly meet
current demand, let alone projected growth.
The six hotels that opened in the run-up to last year’s
IMF World Bank Conference are experiencing extremely high occupancy
levels.
Hilton vice-president for the Arabian peninsula Rudi
Jagersbacher said: “There are no suitable rooms available in the
city at present should a large convention take place.
“Dubai desperately needs more hotels – and quickly.”
Other ongoing challenges include infrastructure – the
city’s roads are creaking under large volumes of traffic
– and containing development near the beach hotels in
Jumeirah, where construction work is fast becoming an eyesore.
A fourth bridge being built across Dubai Creek aims to relieve
some traffic pressure.
The next two years will see bigger projects taking shape. Work
continues around the clock on Dubai Festival City, Dubailand, the
two Palm Islands (with plans for a third off Deira beach recently
announced) and The World.
Hilton plans to open four more hotels, including a Conrad
property in 2007 on Sheikh Zayed Road, while Rezidor SAS, Rotana
Group, Best Western and Kempinski also plan additional hotels.
The development of the two Palm Islands, The World, Dubai Marina
and the Dubai Pearl puts the main focus for development clearly on
the waterfront, and the sought-after Jumeirah district.
This area is likely to see the most growth over the next five to
10 years.
The fight for beds in Dubai is having a knock-on effect across
the rest of the region. For example, Marriott is to add three
hotels in Doha, Qatar, scheduled to open in 2007.
Shangri-La is planning a 250-room hotel in Doha to open prior to
the Asian Games in 2006, while the Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort
and Spa will open in Muscat, Oman, next summer.
Elite Vacations managing director Peter Jackson believes that
while Dubai will continue to attract the lion’s share of
Middle East business, smaller emirates are muscling in.
“Many hotels in other Gulf states are of a similar high standard
but significantly cheaper,” he said.
“Visitors can enjoy lavish facilities and great beaches for less
money and still be only a short drive from Dubai.”
A one-week stay before December at the five-star Le
Méridien Al Aqah Beach Resort in Fujairah costs from £899
including breakfast, flights and transfers, compared to £1,090
at its sister hotel in Dubai, Le Méridien Mina Seyahi.
The Fujairah hotel is a 90-minute shuttle-bus ride from
Dubai.
