Managers: High demand for hotel room bookings
15% increase in search for flights to Dubai during the week of the «Horse World Cup»
Meydan is preparing to host the world's most important horse event. From the source
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Demand for Dubai's hotel market has increased significantly as the Dubai World Cup and its aftermath approach, hotel managers and travel agencies said, noting that searches for flights to Dubai increased by 15 per cent during Dubai World Cup week, compared to the previous week.
They told Emirates Today that major events hosted by Dubai, such as the Dubai World Cup evening scheduled at Meydan Racecourse on the 25th of this month, have a prominent role in supporting the hotel market in Dubai, in addition to flight reservations, noting that the emirate has exceptional elements in hosting major events that contribute to enhancing tourism flow rates.
Fathi Khojaly, regional director of Hyatt Hotels Group in Dubai and general manager of Grand Hyatt, said that the hotel market in Dubai is recording high occupancy levels before the start of the Dubai World Cup and the period beyond, adding that the performance levels are good, supported by the movement of leisure tourism and events, as well as business and conference tourism.
Khojaly added: "During the first ten days of Ramadan 2023, we noticed an increase in demand levels compared to the same period last year," noting that according to these forecasts, the performance of the hotel market in Dubai during the Ramadan 2023 will exceed the rates recorded in Ramadan 2022, including occupancy levels and revenues, explaining that «similar to previous editions of the Dubai World Cup, this year we are witnessing an increase and great demand in the rate of hotel reservations».
He added that «Dubai has exceptional elements in hosting major events, such as the Dubai World Cup, and other important exhibitions and conferences», pointing out that «the emirate continued to promote its tourism and entertainment product at the global level, and at the same time supported event and business tourism, which played a prominent role in enhancing the rates of tourism flow, which was reflected in the increasing attractiveness of the emirate as a tourist destination that caters to various segments».
For his part, the General Manager of Tamani Marina Hotel, Walid Al-Awa, said that hotel occupancy rates, despite the usual decline with the approach of the month of Ramadan, but this year we are witnessing excellent performance rates, pointing out that events and exhibitions in addition to leisure tourism have played a prominent role in recording strong performance levels since the beginning of this year, which are the highest ever, compared to the period that coincided with the hosting of Expo 2020 Dubai, as well as pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
Al Awa said that these strong performance levels were recorded in Dubai, despite the entry of a large number of hotel rooms into the market, noting that the demand for the hotel market in Dubai is rising in conjunction with the Dubai World Cup, noting that major events hosted by Dubai, such as the Dubai World Cup, have a prominent role in supporting the hotel market in Dubai.
He explained that the areas near the Dubai World Cup venue will have the most prominent share of hotel reservations, including Sheikh Zayed Road, Downtown Dubai, Gulf Running, Al Jaddaf, and others, noting that hotel room prices are currently at acceptable levels with the approach of Ramadan.
Commenting on the demand for travel during Dubai World Cup Week, Ayoub Al Maamoun, travel expert at Skyscanner, the global online travel booking platform, said: "Skyscanner's data reveals that Dubai World Cup Week is one of the busiest times to visit the UAE.
"Searches for flights to Dubai during Dubai World Cup week saw a 15% increase compared to the previous week," Al Mamoun added, noting that "most travelers (66%) are looking to stay for a week or less, while more than a third are looking for flights of up to two weeks."
"India, the UK, Germany and the Netherlands are among the top countries seeing demand for flights to Dubai during this travel period," he said.
In addition, data from Booking.com, which specializes in hotel reservations, showed high occupancy rates for hotel establishments operating in the Emirate of Dubai in the second half of March, coinciding with the Dubai World Cup 2023, indicating that about 85% of the rooms available on its site are sold out in hotels located in three areas in the emirate, while five-star hotels recorded the highest rate of bookings.
According to data from booking companies, including Booking.com, seven areas recorded high bookings from March 20 to 26, indicating that more than 85% of the rooms available on their sites in Business Bay, Downtown Dubai, Al Jaddaf, Dubai Creek, Palm Jumeirah The Palm, Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Beach Residence and Sheikh Zayed Road were sold out, with slightly lower rates in other areas.
Five-star hotels recorded the highest rate of bookings during this period, with Booking.com data indicating that 90% of its hotel rooms were sold out, compared to 88% for rooms in beach hotels or those overlooking the coast, while luxury resorts in the emirate recorded the highest rates of bookings, according to the website.
It is noteworthy that the size of the hotel market is witnessing continuous growth, as the number of hotel rooms in Dubai at the end of last January reached more than 147,809 hotel rooms, within 138 hotel establishments, compared to about 6.759 thousand hotel rooms, within 2022 establishments at the end of January <>.
The average hotel occupancy in all establishments operating in Dubai recorded 80%, compared to 71% in the same period of 2021, and luxury hotel rooms of the "five-star" category accounted for 34% of the total volume of the hotel market in Dubai, recording about 50,152 hotel rooms within 29 hotel properties, followed by four-star hotel rooms by 42%, recording about 7.191 thousand hotel rooms within 147 properties. <>,<> hotel rooms in Dubai at the end of January.