Dubai: The weakening Russian rouble has sparked a drop in Russians visiting the UAE, according to industry experts.

The falling rouble, which has lost nearly half its value since the start of the year under the weight of western economic sanctions and tumbling oil prices, has been “a challenge to Dubai tourism,” said Chiheb Ben Mahmoud, executive vice president and head of hotels and hospitality for the Middle East and Africa at JLL, a real estate consultancy.

“It is a challenge not only in terms of [visitor] numbers, but also in terms of the tourism supply chain, such as the disturbance of sales and marketing distribution of holiday packages in Russia to Dubai,” he said.

The rouble plummeted to a new record low of 80 against the US dollar on Tuesday despite the Russian central bank hiking its key interest rates to 17 per cent overnight.

Others echoed Ben Mahmoud’s views.

“Based on our interaction with hoteliers, we note that the Russian tourist market has seen notable contraction in the UAE and the wider region since the beginning of the year. This has had an impact on the Dubai hotel market in general,” said Rashid Aboobacker, senior consultant at TRI Consulting. He said that the impact of the declining rouble is stronger in the three- and four-star segments of the Dubai hotel market, which have more visitors from Russia compared to five-star hotels.

Russia is among Dubai’s top ten tourism source markets. Most Russians arrive in Dubai between November and May, according to Ben Mahmoud.

Gerald Lawless, president and chief executive of luxury hotel company Jumeirah Group, said there has been a slight fall-off in Russian guests this year, but that “the Russian market is still holding up very well.”

“For their big holiday over New Year and the first 10 days of January, the forward bookings are looking very encouraging,” Lawless said.

Olivier Hick, vice-president of operations of Accor for the Gulf and Levant, a French hotel chain, said Russian guest numbers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have declined since the summer.

“The room nights [spent by Russians] in Dubai during July was down 20-30 per cent compared to July last year,” Hick told Gulf News by phone.

Russia is among Accor’s top 10 source markets in the UAE.

While not divulging the impact of the falling rouble on hotel guest numbers, Rudi Jagersbacher, president of Hilton Worldwide for the Middle East and Africa, said that Russia remains an important outbound market for the hotel company.

“Hilton Worldwide is aware of the economic situation in Russia and has been monitoring this for some time. The UAE remains a very attractive destination for Russian travellers,” Jagersbacher said in an emailed statement.

Tour operators, too, have seen a drop in demand from the Russian market.

“Demand from Russia is definitely down. [Russian arrivals] are down 30 per cent from October to date compared to the same time last year,” said George Mousa, chief executive of travel company Planet Group.

Similarly, Lama Group, a UAE-based destination management company, said Russian tourist arrivals to Dubai have dropped 60 per cent from January to November. It expects arrivals from the Russian market to fall by between 65 and 70 per cent in 2014 compared with the previous year.

Kulwant Singh, managing director of Lama Group, indicated that spending by Russian tourists seem to have dropped as well. “All Russian tourists that used to book at high-end beach properties now demand city hotels. Customers that booked at city hotels are booking at hotels in Sharjah. People that used to book at budget hotels are now demanding visas and staying with families and friends. This has been the trend for the last two months,” he said.

While Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing did not respond to Gulf News’ questions by deadline, the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA) said the impact of the declining rouble “remains to be seen.”

“Russia is not yet a top producer for Abu Dhabi, so any impact within the destination could be limited. Russia is currently our 19th overseas market in terms of hotel guest productivity,” a TCA official said in an emailed statement to Gulf News.

-With inputs from Sarah Diaa, Staff Reporter