NEW SPEAKER FOR 2014: Ziad El Chaar, Managing Director, DAMAC Properties
Responsible for developing 7351 serviced hotel apartments in Dubai by 2017, Ziad El Chaar will speak on a session to address ‘Succeeding in the extended stay and serviced apartment segment’.

“Dubai welcomed just over 4.7 million tourists in 2004; last year that number stood at more than 10 million and by 2020 that number will more than double again. Dubai’s growth, by any metric, has been exponential and the hotel investment landscape has grown with it.

The biggest change over the past decade has been the boom in the number of global operators setting up business in the emirate, bringing with them a quality and level of service not previously experienced. The bar has been set very high in Dubai, making the city one of the most attractive destinations in the world.

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Over the next 10 years, as Dubai continues to grow and prepare to host the World Expo 2020, you can expect to see a strong growth in the number of serviced hotel apartments opening up.

We see this as a bigger driver in the tourism market in the coming years and are taking a leadership position at the luxury end of the sector. By 2017, Damac Maison — the hospitality arm of Damac Properties — will provide bespoke hospitality services to residents in 7351 serviced hotel apartments that are currently under development across the region.

On 30 December 2013, we opened our first luxury serviced hotel apartment project, Damac Maison — Dubai Mall Street. The fifty-storey tower looking out over the world’s tallest tower and the Dubai Fountain has fully sold out and the occupancy rates in the early months have been very pleasing.

Investors can purchase a fully-serviced unit and either live in it themselves, or add it to the Damac Maison rental pool, where we will rent it out for a management fee. Investors have found this flexibility hugely attractive and the other luxury serviced hotels we are developing which will complete later this year are already selling very well.”

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