Tourism and hospitality sector officials expected a gradual increase in hotel occupancy rates during the coming period with the support of the international and domestic tourism movement together, stressing that Dubai receiving international visitors is a new stage in the era of sector recovery and revitalization, and an important addition to the government's plans to accelerate the pace of recovery of various sectors in the country.
They added to «Emirates Today» that the hospitality and tourism sector in the Emirates is world famous, and will recover faster than the rest of the hospitality markets in the region, in conjunction with the new travel procedures and the reopening of airports.
In detail, the regional vice president of the Rotana hotel group, David Prince, considered that the beginning of Dubai to receive visitors as of today is an important addition to the government's plans and visions to accelerate the pace of recovery of the various sectors in the country, expecting the tourism sector to recover soon.
He added: “With the return of domestic tourism, which we consider as the main engine in the recovery of the hotel sector in the UAE today, Dubai’s reception of international visitors is a new stage in the era of recovery and revitalization of the sector,” expressing his confidence that this will strengthen the tourism and hotels sectors, and other major sectors, The increase in hotel reservations, which awaits large numbers of visitors, after the decline of the “Corona” pandemic worldwide, especially in the last quarter.
Prince expressed optimism that the tourism and hospitality sector in the UAE is moving steadily towards a promising future, and will gradually return to what it was before, and will recover faster than the rest of the hospitality markets in the region.
For his part, the general manager of the Tamani Marina Hotel, Walid Al-Awa, said that the promotional offers launched by the hotels contributed to raising the occupancy rates during the recent period, stressing that the performance improves further with the opening of the door to international tourists.
Al-Awa pointed to the decline in hotel room rates during the recent period, indicating that the low cost of tourism services will play a role in attracting more visitors from different classes.
In turn, the Director General of the Studio "Arabian Plaza", Ursula Al-Chidiac, drew attention to the fact that the tourism sector in the Emirates is world famous, and therefore, we expect a strong return to this sector, in conjunction with the new travel procedures and the reopening of airports.
She stressed that the hotel continues to complete the preparations for the next season, which includes the adoption of high-level preventive measures in the framework of the campaign, "We are cleaning." We care. We welcome »
Meanwhile, Mohamed Awadallah, CEO of Time Hotels Group, confirmed the start of bookings, indicating that occupancy rates are improving. Awadallah expected a gradual increase in hotel occupancy rates with the start of international tourism.
It is noteworthy that the number of international tourists who visited Dubai last year reached 16.73 million, a growth of 5.1%, compared to 2018, while the number of hotel rooms in the emirate reached 128 thousand rooms in 745 hotel facilities.
According to statistics, international visitors spend in Dubai 78.6 billion dirhams annually.
76 global destinations
The data issued by the Emirates Airlines and flydubai companies showed a continuous increase in the number of destinations within the network of two carriers around the world, with the application of new air travel protocols that facilitate the travel of UAE citizens, residents and tourists while preserving the health and safety of visitors and societies.
The total number of destinations within the network of the two companies, 76 destinations, including 52 stations for "Emirates Airlines", and 24 for "flydubai". As for the stations to Arab destinations, it reached seven cities for the two carriers together, namely Bahrain, Cairo, Tunis, Beirut, Khartoum, Amman, and Alexandria.
A gradual return to tourism
Glenn Knops, General Manager at Millennium Place Hotel, Al Barsha, expected a gradual return to the country’s tourism sector in general, in the post-Corona phase, with flights resuming and reopening of airports.
He pointed out that the hotel was a pioneer in adopting integrated preventive measures, as it launched since last February the implementation of the program "ICP", which includes the use of high-quality registered and approved products for sterilization and fighting germs and epidemics.
The hotel affirmed its efforts to encourage local tourism through direct interactive entertainment.
PCR tests
Emirates Airlines said that PCR tests are available upon arrival in Dubai, in which case the traveler must isolate himself, until the test result is released.
She explained that if the test result is negative, then the traveler can leave the hotel and enjoy his flight naturally, but if the test result is positive, then he must follow the advice of the Dubai Health Authority and follow up on isolation.
- Hotels confirmed that domestic tourism is the main driver of the sector's recovery.
Azad و Dubai