Despite the heat, summer is expected to be a relatively busy season for Dubai with regional tourism and staycations by residents driving demand as international coronavirus-related travel restrictions persist.
Full tourism industry recovery is not expected before 2023-2024, although the launch of Expo 2020 in October this year will be the start of tourism’s recovery in Dubai, said Ammar Hilal, managing director of Raffles Dubai and Sofitel Dubai the Obelisk.
“With many not travelling to Europe and Asia this summer, we will defenitly have people who will remain here, and I think last summer clearly proved that the staycation business has worked extremely well,” said Hilal.
Domestic tourism aside, Hilal also expects a strong pick-up from the regional market, which includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait, as travel bans are lifted and restrictions ease.
“With Saudi Arabia opening up for everyone who is vaccinated, you can clearly see that we have a lot of pickup coming out of it already. For the past week, between Raffles Dubai and Sofitel Dubai the Obelisk, we have seen an increase of around 30 to 40 rooms per property per day coming from the Saudi market, compared to the same period last year,” explained Hilal.
“If Europe remains not that open for tourism, people in this region will want to come to Dubai,” he continued.
Ammar Hilal, managing director of Raffles Dubai and Sofitel Dubai the Obelisk
A year of living under the stress of coronavirus and several lockdowns has made consumers more sustainability-conscious and this has reflected on the hospitality industry, explained Hilal with guests expecting more environmental considerations from hotels, such as being plastic-free or having green meeting rooms (with no flip boards and recycled stationery provided).
It has also made travelers seek out personal wellbeing experiences wherever they go.
“A holistic wellness offering will become a very essential part of the future guest experience – not only in resorts but also in city hotels,” said Hilal.
“Humankind has been asked to do more with less over the past year and that has taken a toll on their stress levels and therefore the wellness offering during their hotel-stay is of great importance. We can see that there is much higher demand for therapeutically treatments nowadays than there was pre-Covid 19,” Hilal said.
Raffles Dubai
In terms of eating habits, people today are much more health conscious, explained Hilal, and trends like vegan cuisine will persist and continue to improve in the future with more locally sourced food products utilised by hotel chefs.
While elements such as check-ins and outs will be automated in the hotels of the future, Hilal said there is no replacing the human element when it comes to hospitality.
“You can spend money on marbles, chandeliers and crystals but the human element is what guests remember. Over 40 percent of our guests in Raffles are returning guests, for example, and this is because of the connection we have built with them over the years,” explained Hilal.
“Technology makes our lives as employees more efficient and easier and so it will free time to interact with the guests and create more emotional experiences for them,” he continued.
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