Dubai: The ten per cent municipality fee will be waived for newly developed three and four-star hotels in Dubai, according to a top official at Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM).
Speaking at the 14th edition of The Hotel Show on Sunday, Helal Saeed Al Merri, Director General of DTCM, said the scheme developed by DTCM and Dubai Municipality, will help the development of more three- and four-star hotels. He added that to double the number of visitors to Dubai by 2020, the number of hotels will need to be doubled.
The incentive programme is developed under the directive of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
“People who are thinking today to develop three- and four-star hotels in Dubai are encouraged by the government to do so,” he said, adding that the initiative will “help encourage them to move faster”.
Al Merri said that municipality fee will be waived “for a period of years”. “It will last for a period of four years from when an initial building permit is granted. But in terms of operation for hotels we will take an average of two years from once a building permit has been granted,” he explained, adding that the applications for the scheme will be available for the next three years.
As part of the 2020 vision announced in May this year, Dubai will welcome 20 million visitors per year by 2020, which will increase the tourism sector’s contribution to the city’s economy.
The vision, developed by DTCM under the guidance Shaikh Mohammad, considers how Dubai will both double its annual visitor numbers and increase the economic contribution to the tourism sector.
Family destination
To widen Dubai’s tourism offering and achieve the vision, DTCM is focusing on developing three areas — promoting Dubai as a leading family destination; promoting the city as an event destination; and enhancing its position as a business destination.
Meanwhile, doubling the number of hotels in Dubai is “an area which is of great concern,” Al Merri said. “We want to make sure that hotel prices stabilise and do not continue to go up.”
He further pointed out that that there is “an issue” in the demand and supply of hotel rooms, which has led to an increase in hotel prices.
But as more hotels are built, demand and supply of hotel rooms could be balanced, he said, adding that DTCM is not considering putting caps on [number of] hotels.
Al Merri said that demand for hotels is evenly spread across the city. While there is demand for hotels in beach locations, there is a need for hotels in other areas, including locations that are near attractions.
“More than 50 per cent of the demand [from now until 2020] comes from non-beach hotels,” Al Merri said.
He expects different kinds of hotels to enter the market in the years leading to 2020, including those owned by emerging and independent operators besides larger hotel brands.
Meanwhile, with regards to World Expo 2020, Al Merri said Dubai is in a good place to win the bid. He also highlighted the importance of investing in technology, which is important for Dubai’s tourism strategies.
