In order to meet increased visitor number targets, Dubai is launching a range of more economical accommodation options tailored for business travellers.
Long regarded as the home of over-the-top luxury, Dubai is changing tack slightly with new hotel brands and openings including Courtyard by Marriott, Centro by Rotana, Ibis, Hilton Garden Inn, Starwood’s Aloft and Element brands, Novotel, Mercure, Aparthotel Adagio, Citymax, Holiday Inn and Dubai-based Byblos Hospitality, as well as home-grown Jumeirah Group’s first mid-market brand, Venu, and Emaar Hospitality Group’s Rove Hotels.
Rove Downtown Dubai, the first property under Rove Hotels, opened in May 2016. Conceived as a social and cultural hub for modern-day explorers, it has a significant collection of art works that celebrate the local culture.
To spur more developers into investing in the mid-market segment, in late 2013 Dubai began offering a waiver on the 10 per cent municipality fees for four years and has put in place a more streamlined construction approval process that will reduce approval time to two months. Dubai Tourism is also allocating government land towards the development of mid-market hotels. The move is gaining traction, with 44 per cent of the rooms to be delivered this year falling into the mid-market segment and an additional 20,363 rooms expected to enter the market between 2016 and 2020.
