Thousands of new hotel rooms will open in Dubai over the next few months, giving travelers more options but putting more pressure on the hotel industry. These new rooms were planned when the Dubai hospitality industry was booming and a room shortage caused room rates to go up. The economic downturn has since caused revenues and rates to drop sharply as demand declined and hotels compete for guests. The number of hotels during the first half of the year increases 17% to 58,147 compared to 49,656 during the same period last year.
Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing shows this consists of 40,943 hotel rooms and 17,04 hotel apartment rooms. Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels Vice President for Middle East and Africa said the additional rooms will “place further pressure on occupancy and rates, particularly for those hotels in less popular tourist and business locations.”
