In general, the overall feeling is of optimism with 43.8% commenting that the luxury hotel sector is one for growth, with 25% citing the resort market as favourable — mirroring similar opinions last year.

A quarter also said standalone F&B outlets offered a market to tap into, reflecting on the region’s current trend to open more independent restaurants and bars compared to a decade ago.

However, only 6.3% said the economy segment was booming — which, again, goes against the number of mid-market hotels going live in the region. A. Ronai LLC managing director Gavin Dodd agreed with the pipeline, rather than the thoughts of the respondents. He told Hotelier: “I think the growth will be in economy hotels, particularly with 2020 and all the visitors coming. The growth is definitely there in the three- and four-star market, which will obviously still be luxury in Dubai.”

In conversation with Hotelier, Boncafé group CEO Tony Billingham said: “I think for us, we’ve got to say luxury [is a growth market] because most of our products are geared towards five-star hotels and five-star operations.”

Pacific Direct Dubai GM Rob Dupree told Hotelier that while Ada Cosmetics tailors for both the three- and four-star market, Pacific Direct is still marketing to the five-star and luxury sector.

Three-quarters of the respondents said UAE poses the biggest opportunity, followed by 12.5% citing Qatar. KSA and Oman trail behind at 6.3% each. The KSA market is booming. With the government focusing on religious as well as domestic tourism, hoteliers have revealed that second tier cities are being developed as tourism and business hubs, offering a chance for suppliers.

There’s a wait-and-watch attitude being taken by hoteliers for 2016, but suppliers are still hopeful for a positive future. Will they finally change their attitudes towards new countries, and the changing demands of travellers? We look forward to seeing the changes in the 2017 Hotelier Supplier Survey.

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