Hotels in the Middle East are performing well with Dubai, Kuwait and Doha being singled out as among the strongest performing markets by Hotel Benchmark Survey by Deloitte.
The Middle East, which has established itself as a leisure destination, is now a key emerging destination for the lucrative Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) market, reported Khaleej Times Monday.
According to the survey, the growth in intra-regional travel and the increased spending on tourism infrastructure are among the factors that drive hotel performance in the region. Operators and investors continue to express interest in the Middle East with recent announcements from Inter- Continental, Hilton International, Accor and the Kingdom Hotel Investment Group regarding future plans for expansion across the region.
In Dubai, the hotels in both Jumeirah beach and in the city centre have reported the highest revenue per available room (revPAR) of any market in the Middle East. According to the Hotel Benchmark Survey by Deloitte, for the first quarter of 2004, Jumeirah beach hotels had a 93.9 per cent occupancy, while the average room rate (ARR) and revPAR $271 stood at $271 and $255, respectively. The Dubai city centre hotels enjoyed a 91.7 per cent occupancy. The ARR and revPAR were $121 and $111, respectively.
The survey pointed out that Dubai came third in a CNN poll as the most preferred city for business travel in the world after Hong Kong and Singapore.
Meanwhile, the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) had outlined a number of new projects, which have made Dubai even more appealing. Among them include DubaiLand, the Palm, The World, Burj Dubai, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai Healthcare City, Hydropolis, Dubai Marina, and the Dh15 billion Light Rail Transport (LRT) project that will be ready by 2010.
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
