8, 000 Hotel Rooms Are to Be Added To the Current Hotel Base In The Emirates

[IMG=20398-6150] By the end of 2006 8, 000 hotel rooms are to be added to the existing hotel base of UAE. Nadezhda Matveeva, the Head of CIS Department of Alpha Tours (Dubai), said: ‘at the moment we can not satisfy around one third of all accommodation requests of Russian tourists especially in the peak season. New hotels will allow to extend the assortment and to stabilize prices which are constantly growing owing the increase of demand for the destination’. Meanwhile, Oksana Andreeva, the Head of the Tourism Department of West-Line International, explained: ‘popular hotels are 70% booked in the high season, therefore hoteliers ask for higher, ‘non-contract’ rates. New hotels will be an advantage for the market from the point of view of pricing policy, which hotels set after opening’. For example, such hotels as Park Hyatt Dubai, Oasis Towers yhave announced 50% discounts. However, some Russian travel market players that specialize in the UAE market, doubt that 8, 000 hotel rooms will solve the current problem of the shortage of hotel rooms in the country. For example, Andrey Zorin, the Head of the UAE Department of Russian Express, pointed out: ‘the majority of new hotels will be located in the city that will result into problems with transfers to the beach. Besides, some beach hotels will be closed for reconstruction or refurbishment, for example, The Jumeirah Beach Club, Rotana. Therefore, it is too early to forecast the stabilization of prices for tours to the Emirates. Current forecasts show they will increase by 10-15% in city hotels and by around 30% in beach hotels.