Hotels asked to slash rates by up to 50% for DSS

The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) will tell hotels to reduce room rates by up to 50 per cent in order to boost tourism traffic during the 65-day Dubai Summer Surprises shopping festival, a senior DTCM executive said yesterday. "We see Dubai hotels reducing room rates between 40 and 50 per cent during DSS," Shaikha Ebrahim Al Mutawa, DTCM's Director of Business, told Emirates Business.
The move follows discounted room rates of up to 60 per cent offered by the emirate's hotels during the Dubai Shopping Festival earlier this year. This was also a DTCM directive to combat declining tourist numbers.
"Participating hotels will have to offer corporate rates to visitors during DSS. Room rates will come down significantly," said Majid Saqr Al Marri, Director of Hotel Classification at DTCM. According to Steven Greenwood, Hotel Manager for Intercontinental Dubai Festival City, hotels under the IHG umbrella, including Crowne Plaza, are offering value-added DSS packages.
"What we are really trying to do this summer is looking to offer facilities in the packages rather than just throwing it all directly on to the rates," Greenwood told Emirates Business.
"If you look at the peak years we have seen in 2007 and 2008, you can definitely see reductions in room rates of up to 60 per cent across the market during the summer," he added. DSS runs from June 11 until August 14.