DTCM-hoteliers discuss tourism performance

Source:  www.ameinfo.com

The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) held a meeting with select representatives of Dubai hotels on Tuesday as part of its continuous efforts to take stock of the current tourism industry developments and discuss various initiatives to boost visitors’ number to the emirate and hotel occupancies.

Khalid A bin Sulayem (3rd from left) chaired the Hotel Group meeting held on April 6- 2010.

The meeting, chaired by DTCM Director General, Mr. Khalid A bin Sulayem, was attended by senior officials of the department in addition to top management representatives of hotel establishments in the emirate.

During the meeting, held at Novotel Hotel at Dubai World Trade Centre, the participants discussed issues concerning the tourism industry in general and the hotel sector in particular.

The meeting discussed the new marketing plans to be implemented by the department during this year and the latest developments in the global tourism industry and new projects in the emirate.

A presentation was made to the participants about the performance of tourism industry in Dubai and a report prepared by Smith Travel Research (STR), a London-based independent international tourism research institution.

The STR report revealed that Dubai ranked first in the world for the average room rate (ARR) in the month of February 2010 with hotel average room being $252. It held the same status in the previous three months previous with the average room rate being $250 in January, December 2009 $235 and $236 in November 2009.

Tokyo was placed second in the month of February at $242 and got the same position in January at $250, while Paris was placed in the third place during the months of February and January at $211 and $212, respectively.

In terms of average revenue per available room (RevPAR) category also, the report said Dubai is ranked first as the average revenue was $199, followed by Tokyo with $170, Hong Kong with $146, Sydney ($140) and Paris ($137).

In terms of average hotel occupancy rates during the month of February, Dubai occupied the second place with 79% with average hotel average room being $252, next only to Sydney with 85.2% with $164 average room rate, while Hong Kong, London, Tokyo, New York and Cairo were placed on the list from third to eighth positions.

Mr. bin Sulayem praised members of the hotel group for the achievements made by Dubai tourism industry, which have been made possible due to the marketing and promotional campaigns carried out by the department in collaboration with the tourism sector in the emirate.