Dubai: Hotel guests will soon have to pay a “tourism dirham”. It is a fee that will be imposed on guests staying at hotels and hotel apartments in Dubai.
The amount will be announced within a week, a source from Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) told Gulf News.
The move is part of the initiative announced by DTCM to establish the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM) on Sunday.
The fee will be imposed on guests staying at 1-5 star hotels and deluxe and standard hotel apartments “per hotel room, per night,” the source said, adding that it will help Dubai’s tourism sector grow.
Philip Wooller, area director of STR Global for the Middle East and Africa, told Gulf News that the fee’s impact on hotels “will depend on how much it is and how hotels deal with it.”
He added that demand for hotel rooms in Dubai is strong but there is a danger that Dubai will not be affordable for many people.
