Time looks to harness medical tourism potential

Time Hotels Management has signed a new contract to manage a five-star hotel in Dubai Healthcare City.

The 277-room Time Royal Hotel will be located off Sheikh Zayed Road, close to the Wafi Mall, which is a 10-minute drive from Dubai International Airport.

The AED 200 million (US $54.million) hotel is under development by Awtad Investment Company and will open in 2016.

Among the features of the hotel will be two restaurants, a coffee shop, gymnasium, swimming pool, spa, and 684 square metres of meeting space.

Time Hotels CEO Mohamed Awadalla said: “The new Wafi location will complement our existing properties which are located at opposite ends of the city in Barsha/TECOM and Al Qusais, and will also add much-needed room stock to the Oud Metha area which is home to Dubai Healthcare City.”

“Dubai plans to position the emirate as a global medical tourism destination by 2020 with the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) targeting 500,000 medical tourists with expected revenues of AED2.6 billion. To support this ambitious strategy it is imperative that Oud Metha’s hospitality capacity is enhanced as the area is currently underserviced in terms of hotel rooms,” he added.

According to Awadalla, the Dubai Health Authority is seeking to increase the number of treatment-seeking medical tourists from the GCC and South Asia, and Time Hotels hopes to capitalise on the influx.

“We will also add more value to the market with two rooms per floor at our new Wafi property specifically designed to be handicap-accessible; which is a first for the city and a unique selling point for the promotion of Dubai as a leading destination for medical tourism,” he said.

The hotel will be wheelchair accessible with ramps located in major public areas and adapted elevator access.

TIME Hotels also recently signed a new property in the resort town of Hurghada in Egypt. The group also has a pipeline of four other properties in Doha, and Abu Dhabi, with a target of 13 properties by 2016.