Dubai: Shaikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, on Tuesday inaugurated the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre amid strong optimism over the Gulf region’s medium-term outlook for the hospitality industry.
According to research released by TRI Hospitality, 90,000 confirmed and 23,000 unconfirmed hotel rooms will come on-line over the next five years in the region. Of these, 17,000 are confirmed for this year, 19,000 for 2011 and 28,000 in 2012.
This would potentially raise the number of keys in the GCC to 422,000 by 2014, signifying a 6 per cent annual growth rate. Dubai still has the largest share of 30.8 per cent, or over 90,000 rooms, of the GCC hotel pipeline. Abu Dhabi takes half of that and the Northern Emirates and Qatar about half of what Abu Dhabi gets. Oman gets about 5 per cent or around 14,000 rooms, Kuwait and Bahrain between 3 and 4 per cent and Saudi Arabia 12.8 per cent.
ATM brings together travel industry professionals and, through seminars and workshops, highlights issues facing the industry. This year’s edition of ATM will run till May 7.
