Dubai has more hotels under construction or planning today than ever before. According to research by The Consulting House, a new hotel consulting firm based in Dubai, there are 31 new 5- and 4-star hotels either being built or confirmed for future construction in the city, containing a total of 11,770 rooms and suites, plus 1,305 hotel apartments.
“Dubai has a history of rapid growth in its hotel sector, having increased its supply from 167 hotels with 9,383 rooms in 1993 to 272 hotels with 23,170 rooms in 2002, but today’s ‘giant leap’ forward in future supply is quite unprecedented,” said Guy Wilkinson, director of The Consulting House.
“This confirmed growth is in addition to at least 100 other hotels, which are planned at The Palm, Jebel Ali and Dubailand, for example, for which details are as yet unconfirmed.”
The new hotels include some landmark properties that are sure to join the Burj Al Arab, the Jumeirah Beach Hotel and the Emirates Towers as icons of the world’s hotel industry. For example, the new Dubai 250-room Armani Hotel, the first of a new chain of boutique hotels created by Emaar Properties in association with the famous Italian fashion designer, Georgio Armani, will be located inside the 560 metres high Burj Dubai, the future tallest tower in the world.
Another skyscraper, the nearby Forex Rotana Suites in the upcoming Dubai International Financial Centre free zone will offer 480 suites in a 72-storey tower.
Atlantis, the Palm, will eventually offer 2,000 low-rise hotel resort rooms on the Crescent of The Palm, Jumeirah, with the region’s largest water theme park, including an underwater archaeological ‘dig’ themed on Atlantis.
The Hydropolis Hotel will become the world’s first underwater hotel, with 300 rooms and suites at a depth of 20 metres off the Jumeirah Coast.
Many of the confirmed new properties will be built within Dubai’s new real estate ‘mega projects,’ including The Palm, Dubai Festival City, Jumeirah Beach Residence, Dubai Marina and Jumeirah Lake Towers.
However, it is Dubailand, billed as the future Orlando of the Middle East, which looks set to become the focus of hotel construction, following an announcement that it will contain 50 hotels of 1,000 rooms each.
“Dubai has the hottest hotel market on the planet,” concluded Wilkinson. “The critical mass of new developments is creating a chain reaction, from a current construction boom to a future tourism boom. The shere number of foreign companies involved in these projects confirms their belief in Dubai’s future status as one of the world’s major players in the hotel and tourism sectors.”
(menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
