Hotel guests in Abu Dhabi will be charged new fees from June 1, officials have confirmed.
Guests will have to pay a municipal fee amounting to 4 per cent of their hotel bill and a daily charge of Dhs 15 charge per room, a statement from the Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport and Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority said.
The TCA Abu Dhabi said it has formally notified hotels and tourist facilities of the decision.
Work is under way to lay down the procedures for fee collection. The municipal fees and tourist fees must be separately accounted for in all financial records, the statement said.
The authority will also hold workshops to introduce the municipal fee collection and deposit mechanisms.
The move, announced earlier this year, is in line with charges imposed on hotel guests in other destinations across the region, the Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport said.
Authorities insisted that the fees are “minimal and will not constitute a financial burden on hotel guests.”
The amount collected will be used to boost the “sustainable development of Abu Dhabi’s tourism infrastructure and enhance the services offered to hotel guests and customers,” the statement added.
Currently, hotels in Abu Dhabi charge guests a 6 per cent city tax and a 10 per cent service charge.
Abu Dhabi’s decision follows a similar “tourism dirham” introduced by Dubai in 2014. The charge varies between Dhs 7 and Dhs 20 per room, per night, depending on the hotel category and rating.
It is applied to guests staying in all kinds of holiday accommodation including hotels, hotel apartments, guesthouses and holiday homes.
The funds are used to support the international promotion and marketing of Dubai.
By Aarti Nagraj
