Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing passes hotel classification scheme into law

Dubai: The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) on Wednesday issued a new decree formally legalising a new hotel classification scheme for Dubai.

“Following a period of extensive research, benchmarking against key local and international destinations and discussions with the hotel industry, the Hotel Classification Scheme has now been passed into law,” DTCM said in a statement on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market (ATM), adding that the new system will improve clarity and increase the transparency about the type and quality of hotel rooms and accommodation available across the emirate and the services provided within the establishments.

The hotel classification scheme was earlier scheduled to be revealed by the tourism department in 2008, which got pushed to 2009. However, the scheme saw a soft launch at the Arabian Travel Market last year.

The move comes a few days after the DTCM officially launched its Dubai Tourism Vision for 2020, for 20 million visitors a year until 2020, doubling from the 10 million visitors Dubai welcomed in 2012.

“Our current system of classification dates back to 1998 and requires updating due to the vast growth of the hotel and hospitality sector in Dubai in the past 15 years,” Majid Al Merri, Director of Hotel Classification at DTCM, said in a statement.

The new scheme adopts a multi-layered framework to rate and categorise each hotel, DTCM said, adding that the framework mainly includes three elements: Ratings (the traditional one to five star rating system, with an additional ‘budget’ level added); Categories (hotel establishments will be classified by category type, such as Hotel, Resort, Hotel Apartment and Guest House); and Designator (a range of designators has been created to help describe the type of hotel establishment.

“By adopting a multi-tiered framework of ratings, categories and designators, clearer choice will be provided to visitors,” said Al Merri. Dubai currently has 80,000 rooms across 599 hotels and hotel apartments, which will need to be doubled if Dubai wins the bid for World Expo 2020. Dubai hotels and hotel apartments accrued revenue of Dh18.85 billion in 2012, up 17.9 per cent over the previous year.