DUBAI has been the target of considerable hotel development in the past few years as it continues to build itself up as a key commercial and tourist centre of the Middle East.
The United Arab Emirate state currently has 247 hotels, with a total of 18,000 rooms and over 22,000 beds. However, there is still further development planned which has led many to fear that supply will outstrip demand (see table below).
The top end of the market has already been struggling, particularly since the opening of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in November 1997.
The unusual architecture of the 600-room beachfront property has made it a popular choice with both the local and international market. The second phase of the hotel, a 200-suite Tower, is due to open at the end of the year.
Anton Najjar, general manager of the JWMarriott in Dubai, said the five-star sector saw its average room rate drop by 9%-12% between 1997 and 1998. “Of all the beach hotels, the Jumeirah Beach seems to have had the greatest impact. It is a new glitzy hotel,” he said.
However, Dubai’s tourism officials believe there is sufficient demand to warrant the increase in hotel beds. Dubai attracted 1.8m overseas visitors in 1997 and although figures for 1998 have not yet been finalised, it is estimated they will reach 2m.
The destination relies heavily on major events, such as the Dubai Shopping Festival in March/April, to boost visitors numbers.
These events have a major impact on tourism arrivals, according to Awadh Al Seghayer, manager missions and events for the government of Dubai’s department of tourism and commerce marketing.
“At the last Dubai Air Show, people had to stay in Abu Dhabi and Oman because there weren’t enough beds in Dubai,”he said.
“As long as we go on promoting Dubai, we will need more hotels and we haven’t run out of ideas yet. Like other Middle East destinations, Dubai’s overseas visitor numbers are affected by trouble in the Gulf.
Seghayer believes tensions between the West and Iraq contributed to a one-off drop in UK visitor numbers from 106,706in 1996 to 105,561in 1997. This compares to steady growth of around 8-10,000 extra visitors a year since 1989.
“Iraq might have had a small influence on it, or maybe the British who have come to Dubai are now going to other destinations,” said Seghayer.
Traditionallya stopover destination for the UKmarket, Dubai is striving to establish itself as a destination in its own right. It is promoting activities such as dune driving, wadi bashing, golf and scuba diving in a bid to increase the average stay of visitors, which is currently at 2.3-2.8 days.