Cool as a cucumber

Dubai Metro's Green Line launches on 9 September adding a further 18 stations and 23 km to the existing rail network.

New openings
And there’s more good news on the horizon for Dubai tourism as the latter part of the year will see a rash of new hotel openings, which the experts see as another measure of the “health” of the market.

“More and more scheduled new hotel projects are nearing completion with clear opening dates,” said Devadasan. “More than anything else, I think it beneficial for the end-user to make a choice from a bigger pool of offerings.”

In terms of new openings, the Palm Jumeirah is finally beginning to take shape in its original format, as a new beach destination for Dubai.

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While 30 low-rise, themed resort hotels had originally been planned for the Palm back in 2001, the onset of the recession meant that following the show-stopping Atlantis Hotel launch three years ago, that remained the sole hotel on the development, alongside a few sadly empty building sites and dusty roads.

But today, One&Only The Palm and Jumeirah Zabeel Saray have already added to the credentials of The Palm Jumeirah, and Rixos opens its Palm property in December, with residences set to follow.

In addition, Mövenpick’s Royal Amwaj is taking allocations from December. According to Toufic Tamim, the resort has already been accepted as a welcome addition to the Dubai hotel inventory.

“This has been in the making for four years and many tour operators recognise the market for honeymooners and FITs, as well as the regional audience who will appreciate the water element with villas on the lagoons. In addition, the proximity of Atlantis will be a draw,” he said.

Next year, Fairmont will debut with a brief to twin group and leisure business, avoiding reliance on one sector: “We will have a robust kids’ club, as well as a great suite product and 36,000 sq ft of meeting space,” said Fairmont’s vice president for regional hotel sales Kent Cooper.

“The delays have been good in that things have been built up around us, and we are now seeing a cluster of hotels on The Palm at trade shows that helps incentivise big groups who might spread their business across several hotels.

"This meets the needs of the MICE sector and avoids the compression factor in the city.”
Also to come is Mövenpick’s Oceana Resort, the Sofitel Spa resort, the Habtoor Island Resort and Spa and Hilton.

Confusion still surrounds an ETA Star project involving Taj Hotels & Resorts — the Grandeur Residences were due to open this year followed by the Taj Exotica next year, but the Indian hotel group has declined to comment on the status of this project.

And it’s not just ‘new Dubai’ that will receive some exciting new launches this year. Jumeirah will be opening its first property on the 'other side' of the Creek — Jumeirah Creekside Hotel in Garhoud; and Spanish brand Melia is making its first foray into the Middle East with Melia Dubai, a luxury “urban resort” in Bur Dubai, close to Port Rashid.