UAE reports positive hotel performance: JLL intelligence reports
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A recent study was conducted by JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group aptly titled Hotel Intelligence Reports for UAE and Abu Dhabi.
The report talks about the impact of increased visitor arrivals to UAE and the improved performance of city hotels as well as resort locations. Of the UAE’s 590 hotels totalling more than 93,000 rooms, Dubai and Abu Dhabi account for 86% of current hotel supply.
International operators control about 68% of total hotel room inventory and majority of supply is concentrated in the upscale (four and five star) segment. More than 28,000 additional rooms are expected to be built in the country by 2016, with Dubai and the Abu Dhabi comprising almost 50% and 31% of the development pipeline, respectively.
Some of the highlights of the reports state that overall UAE tourism and hospitality market is expected to witness positive and stable growth rates for the next three to five years.
Abu Dhabi’s hotel demand has been driven by strong performance in corporate and MICE segments. The number of tourists in the emirate has also increased gradually since 2004, from less than one million to approximately 2.8 m total visitors in 2013. The larger tourist numbers, along with an average length of stay of 3.13 nights, resulted in almost 5.31 m guest nights in 2013.
Chiheb Ben-Mahmoud, executive vice president – head of hotels & hospitality group, Middle East & Africa at JLL, said: “The synergies in strategies between key drivers, such as airlines and travel sectors underpin increasing popularity of UAE as a tourist destination. There has been an increase in hotel development activity over the last two years due to encouraging signs in the tourism sector and wider economy. With increased investor confidence, older projects have been revived and new projects announced with international operators constantly trying to increase their hotel footprint in the UAE.”
Dubai remains the market leader but Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah have emerged as key getaway destinations registering rapid growth in tourist arrivals.
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