Dubai Tourist Sector Boosts Investor Confidence
Dubai's hotel industry registered a 10 per cent rise in tourist numbers in 2011 to 9.3 million
, which was up from 8.49 million in 2010, according to new figures released by the Dubai tourism regulatory body the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM).
The positive results were released in the first week of March at the Travel Trade Show ITB-2012 in Berlin where the Dubai tourism industry has a strong presence.
There were a total of 7,262,730 guests at Dubai hotels in 2011, a steep rise from 6,561,999 in 2012. The number of guestnights rose to 32,848,190 in 2011, which was a rise of 23 per cent.
Hotel apartment sector rises
The hotel apartment sector witnessed one the biggest rises as visitors increasingly look to stay in luxury accommodation. There was an increase of two million guestsnights in these properties to 9.5 million from 7.5 million in 2010. The average length of stay stood at 3.6 days, up by 12 per cent from 2010.
Dubai's total revenue from hotels last year was Dh16 billion last year, a rise of 20 per cent over 2010 revenues. Out of this Dh13.6 billion was for hotels, far more than 2010's tally of Dh11.2 billion. Hotel apartments, too, rose considerably to Dh2.2 billion last year, up from Dh1.9 billion in 2010.
Good for investor confidence
The tourism figures for 2011 represent great news for investors in the UAE, particularly in Dubai. The rise in guestnights in luxury apartments, in particular, should spark interest in the many new hotel developments, such as The First Group's two prestigious hotel apartment projects in Tecom, Metro Central and Grand Central, which are situated in the bustling business district of Tecom in the heart of "New Dubai". The luxury end of the market did particularly well in 2011, soaring 17.6 percent.
Commenting on the figures for tourism, which are higher than was anticipated, DTCM Director General, Khalid A bin Sulayem, said Dubai had benefited from tapping into new and emerging tourism source markets. The DTCM's marketing campaign last year began in Australia and New Zealand, a venture which is expected to bear fruit this year.
Overseas Dubai tourist offices
He said the department has intensified its efforts by building a network of 18 overseas representative offices operated by the DTCM. The board plans to participate in more than 25 major travel and tourism exhibitions across the world this year in addition to holding Dubai workshops in 10 countries.
In 2011, Saudi Arabia emerged as the top source market for Dubai's tourism industry with 873,152 guests, urged to flee local holiday destinations because of the Arab Spring. The next highest numbers came from India (702,142), the UK (643,196), Iran (476,708) and the US (462,653). After that came Germany (275,663) guests, followed by Kuwait (273,253) and Russia (255,746).
Significant numbers of tourists also arrived from Oman, Pakistan, China, Australia, France, Egypt, Philippines, Qatar, Italy. And there were more than 90,000 tourists from each of Jordan, Bahrain and Lebanon.
by: Stuart Castle
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