Fairmont President: Property Slump Dubai’s Biggest Challenge

Mr. Storey explained that much of the business in Dubai was driven by real estate and all of the follow on business associated with that. “When that started dialing back, unfortunately Dubai doesn’t have a lot of other industries to fall back on.” He said that his concern is that Dubai may not have enough “runway” meaning if there is a shock to one business base, other segments would support the economy. Mr. Storey said RevPar at Fairmont Dubai fell 25 percent in 2009. RevPar is the industry benchmark reflecting a hotel’s average daily room rate and occupancy rate.