Dubai hotels will face fines of up to AED 15,000 if they fail to comply with the correct implementation of the new Tourism Dirham, a charge of between AED 7-20 per occupied room night being applied to all of Dubai’s hotels and hotel apartments from March 31.
The fines were detailed in a fax sent out to hotel establishments last week outlining the Tourism Dirham fee structure and potential fines, a copy of which was obtained by Hotelier Middle East.
According to the document, the fine of AED 15,000 would be enforced if hotels provided inaccurate documents or incomplete information regarding the Tourism Dirham, or if they were found to manipulate accounts related to this fee.
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The circular stated that the Tourism Dirham must be represented as a separate line item on the bill, and that the Municipality charge and service charge will not be levied on this fee.
It said hotels needed to “ascertain the best way to work with their clients with regards to the collection of the fee”.
The fee will vary according to the type of hotel establishment.
At five-star hotels, the fee per occupied room per night will be AED 20; at four-star hotels it will be AED 15; and at three-star hotels the fee will be AED 10.
The AED 20 fee will also apply to Deluxe Hotel Apartments. Superior Hotel Apartments will pay AED 15 per occupied room per night and Standard Hotel Apartments will pay a Tourism Dirham fee of AED 10.
The lowest Tourism Dirham charge will apply to one-star/budget hotels and Guest Houses, which will be charged AED 7 per occupied room per night.
When asked to comment on the details of the circular and the fee structure, a DTCM spokesperson said: “Last week DTCM held a number of meetings with the Emirate’s hotel establishments to discuss the implementation process of the ‘Tourism Dirham’ which was announced within Executive Council Resolution No. 2 of 2014.
“DTCM also issued an official circular to all hotel establishments within Dubai, outlining both details of the fee structure and details of potential fines which may be applied to hotels in the event of a failure to follow the correct implementation process. All information contained in the circular was also published in the Official Dubai Government Gazette.
“The circular included the fact that the Tourism Dirham will be levied per occupied room night and will be represented as a separate line item in the bill, and that the Municipality charge and service charge will not be levied on this fee.”
The Tourism Dirham has been introduced as a means to raise funds for the international promotion and marketing of Dubai via the new Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, and to drive the growth of its tourism and trade industries.
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