- Dubai
A Beacon of Stability Dubai’s high occupancy rates are being attributed to a redistribution of tourism flows across the region, as travellers avoid areas of unrest – but other, longer-term factors may be responsible for the pick-up in business. Dubai
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n the old days, unrest in any part of the Middle East would result in decimated occupancy rates across the region. At the first sign of trouble, international travellers would shy away from the area as a whole. Dubai’s overflowing hotels prove that times have changed. Properties across the emirate achieved record occupancies in February, not only in spite of political upheaval in countries such as Egypt, Tunisia and Bahrain - but perhaps because of it. For Tamani Hotel Marina, February was the strongest month in history, with an average occupancy of 98 percent. Walid Al-Awa, the hotel’s general manager, attributed this to a redistribution of tourism flows within the region. “The regional impact of recent events has served to remind the market of the safety and desirability of Dubai. Our hotel has been positively affected by a range of markets who have re-evaluated their travel priorities based on the dynamics of the region,” he said. “Dubai has become the top of mind destination for those who may have originally planned to travel to a country which is directly impacted by the recent events. The collective consequence has created a higher level of latent demand for the destination from a range of markets including CIS, Northern Europe and within the GCC,” Al-Awa added. Samir Hamadeh, general manager of Alpha Tours Dubai, agreed that the emirate’s standing as a safe and stable destination had held it in good stead as unrest unfolded across various other parts of the Middle East and North Africa. “However, we should not be overwhelmed by the numbers and forget that other reasons have also influenced tourism flow into Dubai, such as the Dubai Shopping Festival and the new attractions we are offering. Business has been on the increase since November, even before the whole situation erupted,” Hamadeh pointed out. These sentiments were supported by Yigit Sezgin, global director of sales and marketing for
MARCH 2011
the Rezidor Hotel Group. For Sezgin, it is too soon to say whether Egypt and Tunisia’s loss has truly been Dubai’s gain. February is already high season in Dubai, and events such as the Dubai Shopping Festival and Dubai Desert Classic, coupled with holidays such as Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day, and high-profile exhibitions such as IDEX in Abu Dhabi and Gulfood in Dubai, would have had a positive impact on occupancy, regardless of geo-political events elsewhere in the region. “Dubai is extremely busy at the moment but we
Dubai in Brief Currency: UAE Dirhams (AED) Language: Arabic do not really understand if this current volume and business is an effect of the diversion of business from Egypt and Tunisia and so on. This is already a busy period for Dubai anyway. Also, the destinations that are affected are heavily tour operated, charter business, and the rates of Dubai do not reflect that,” Sezgin said.
The regional impact of recent events has served to remind the market of the safety and desirability of Dubai
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