Dubai targets three and four star growth

Dubai targets three and four star growth
By admin


More mid-market hotels will be developed in Dubai under a new initiative designed to broaden the destination’s appeal as it pursues its target of 20 million visitors per year by 2020.

Eligible hotels will be granted a concession on the standard 10% municipality fee levied on the room rate for each night of occupancy, in a bid to encourage the hotel investment industry to grow the number of three and four star properties in the emirate at a faster rate.

It is the result of collaboration between Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing and Dubai Municipality.

Speaking at the Hotel Show at Dubai World Trade Centre, DTCM director-general Helal Saeed Almarri said increasing overall room supply is essential for Dubai to achieve its ambitious goal.

“In recent years the number of three and four star establishments has increased, but it’s vital that we continue to engineer the growth of this range,” he said.

Although a number of properties are under construction or in planning stages, it is hoped that the financial incentives now on offer will help bring them to market sooner.

“The equation is simple,” Almarri said. “The sooner the property opens, the bigger financial incentive the hotel owner will receive.”

Investors in new hotels will be granted a waiver on the fee for a period of four years from the date the permit to construct is granted, provided it falls between October 1 2013 and December 31 2017.

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