Dubai: Six hotels are set to open at Dubai World Central (DWC) by 2019.
Coming to DWC, an aerotropolis in Jebel Ali, will be Aloft, Holiday Inn, Staybridge Suites, Millennium and Studio M, as well as a hotel by Bin Haider Hospitality, according to Mohammad Al Awadhi, Vice-President Real Estate at DWC.
The properties, valued at around Dh1 billion, will be located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport, at a distance of 200 metres, Al Awadhi said.
When the hotels open, DWC is expected to have “between 2,300 and 2,500 hotel rooms,” Al Awadhi said. Up to 65 per cent of the rooms will be in the three-star segment and the rest in the four- and five-star category.
Hotel chains, such as Jumeirah, Accor and Marriott International, are eyeing hotel openings in DWC, where the Expo 2020, a six-month trade fair that is expected to attract 25 million visitors, will take place.
Al Maktoum International at DWC, which currently has a capacity of five to seven million passengers per year, will be expanded to handle 26 million passengers annually by 2018. Construction to expand capacity will start later this year.
In the next five to eight years, the airport is expected to handle 120 million passengers annually. This would create a demand for about 20,000 rooms, according to a statement by DWC.
Al Awadhi said that DWC will announce more hospitality projects in the future, without providing details.
“We have lots of plans when it comes to hospitality projects. There will be more projects yet to be revealed,” he said.
Four plots of land each in the aviation district and business park are available to build hotels, said Eric Perino, director of business development real estate at DWC.
