DUBAI An expected influx of another 10,000 hotel guestrooms in 2011 will not burden Dubai’s tourism recovery efforts, the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing says.
The emirate is banking on continued growth in its cruise industry, additional exhibitions and increased efforts to promote tourism to help absorb the anticipated new guestroom stock. Through the first nine months of 2010, Dubai added more than 9,000 guestrooms to its citywide inventory, an increase of about 15%.
“The year 2011 is expected to outperform 2010 in terms of increasing the numbers of tourists, hotels, hotel rooms and participation in international exhibitions and conventions, in addition to increasing awareness of Dubai abroad,” spokesman Eyad Ali Abdul Rahman tells The National of Abu Dhabi.
The emirate is focused on implementing a new hotel classification system announced last year. Hotels will still be rated on a scale of one to five stars, but 5-star properties will also have sub-ratings of platinum, gold or silver. Hotels would also be designated under different categories including business, beach and desert.
Tourism directly accounts for about 19% of Dubai’s GDP.