Dubai plans to build hotel rooms for 15m annual visitors by 2015
01.10.2007, 07:40
Dubai has added around 5,900 new hotel rooms this year and it expects to grow the current number of guest accommodation units by a staggering 172 per cent to accommodate the targeted number of 15 million visitors a year in 2015.
Wellness hétvége,
Hotels
The city at present has 46,775 rooms in 439 hotels and serviced apartments compared to 40,862 rooms it had at the end of 2006 in 313 properties, according to Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM).
By 2016 the number of hotels and hotel apartments is set to rise by 29.2 per cent to 554, with the room capacity within the same period expected to grow from 46,775 units now to 127,000," DTCM said at the World Travel Market.
As many as 95 Dubai companies are taking part in the travel industry event under the tourism department's umbrella.
The hotel developments cater to both leisure and business visitors to the city, DTCM director-general Khalid Bin Sulayem said in a statement.
A shortage of hotel rooms has slowed Dubai's tourism growth, with many openings delayed in 2007. Dubai is expected to see a bigger number of hotel launches in 2008.
These include the 1,539-room Atlantis resort on the Palm Jumeirah. Another 18 hotels with around 6,500 rooms and apartments are scheduled to open in 2008.
In early 2009, Dubai will be adding the world's first Armani Hotel to its portfolio of luxury properties. Located in Burj Dubai, the world's tallest tower, the Armani Hotel will include 175 guest rooms and suites.
Dubai's biggest hotel development project is BawadiBawadiLoading... in Dubailand. It aims to have 51 hotels and 60,000 rooms when completed in 2016.