Dubai hotels to reap benefits of air traffic surge

A predicted 13.6% increase in passenger numbers at Dubai Airport in 2010 will translate into high occupancy rates for the city’s hotels, Seven Tides managing director Mike Scully has said.

“As long as the hotels in Dubai are priced correctly, these air traffic figures will translate into higher than average occupancies,” he claimed.

“November should be a very successful month for most hotels here, at what should be very good rates for tourists.

“Also, companies who were thinking about going to Bahrain and Qatar because Dubai had out-priced itself on a business front, will all reconsider and start coming into the city.”

Scully’s comments came in response to a statement by Emirates Airlines, in which the carrier announced that it expected to handle more than 46 million passengers in 2010.

“Improving economic conditions, state-of-the-art infrastructure, strong expansion by Emirates Airline and emerging low cost carrier Flydubai and an open skies policy that promotes market access to other international airlines are driving this growth,” Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths told HME.com’s sister publication, Arabian Business.

“Dubai is located four hours flying time from one-third of the world’s population and 12 hours from 80% of the population. New aircraft types such as the A380 and B777 ER are shrinking our globe and amplifying the attractiveness of Dubai’s strategic location for international and regional operations,” he said.

“As a result Dubai International has seen traffic triple in just eight years. Today we have more than 125 carriers serving 210 destinations on six continents,” he said, adding that Dubai airport has the capacity to handle 75 million passengers a year.

Seven Tides is opening four new hotels in the city in 2010, and Scully said these facilities would be well positioned to take advantage of the increase in arrivals.

“Price, MICE, and the fact that we believe Dubai is heading for a big business boom... are the main points we will be taking into consideration next year.

“Also, with tax increases in Europe and America, Dubai as a tax-free destination looks very attractive. So there are a number of elements that are going to be driving business towards the city, which we will be taking advantage of.”