Dubai has more hotels under construction than any other city in the world, according to a new report by hotel projects tracker, tophotelprojects.com
The Middle East tourist hotspot currently has a massive 97 hotels under development and 35,154 rooms due to come online, more than its rival getaways New York (43), Berlin (49) and even Las Vegas (17).
“The hotel construction and investment figures indicate the continuously growing tourism development, in terms of leisure as well as business activities in the Arab region,” said a spokesperson from tophotelprojects.com
The figures, released on Wednesday, are in line with the latest Jones Lang LaSalle Dubai Real Estate Market Overview which said the hospitality sector was the only real estate market to see growth in the second quarter of this year.
Whilst occupancy rates grew 81 percent, declines in average daily rates (ADR) ground to a holt thanks to an upward trend in tourist arrivals.
“While economic recovery [in Dubai] will be gradual, the bottoming out of hospitality in Dubai is positive and reflects buoyant tourism and economic trends,” said Jesse Downs, head of management consulting at JLLS.
According to the report by tophotelprojects.com, which analysed over 4,300 projects worldwide, the Northern emirate is closely followed by UAE capital Abu Dhabi, which has a huge 66 hotels under development and 21,572 rooms due to come online.
Industrial Ras Al Khaimah, which is trying to diversify its economy by ploughing $100m into hotel and tourism projects over the next four years, also made the top 11 global cities, with 14 projects under construction.
“At the moment we’re putting together a 10-year plan,” said the COO of RAK Hotel and Tourism Development Authority Victor Louis.
“This includes looking at how many hotel rooms we need, so as not to oversupply the market, and how many will be beach hotels.”
He added that Ras Al Khaimah was aiming to quadruple its visitor count in the near future.
According to executives from the hotel database, the UAE is undoubtedly increasing the number of incoming tourists.
“Despite the credit crunch, the hotel development business in the UAE keeps doing well,” said the spokesperson.
He referred specifically to the importance of the “amazing Dubailand project” and its planned event-oriented hotels, as well as the ‘Asia Asia’ hotel project with nearly 6,500 guest rooms, scheduled to open in the coming years.
Dubai should expect further increases in tourists and business travellers he added, thanks to the Burj Khalifa, which remains the tallest building in the world, and given the emirate’s status a new, large international hub for long-distance flights.
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