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64212
Thu, 06/04/2009 - 13:55
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DTCM to announce new classification of hotels in Q3
The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, DTCM, will reveal the new classification of Dubai hotel properties in the next quarter, according to a senior official.
"We are looking to finalise the whole process of new classification of Dubai hotels soon. We are hoping the new classification to be out in the third quarter of this year. We are just working out the logistics right now," Majid Saqr Al Marri, Director of Hotel Classification at DTCM, told Emirates Business.
The move comes shortly after the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) earlier this week classified all the 107 hotel premises operating in the emirate – 37 hotels and 66 hotels apartments – in accordance with the new guidelines.
The DTCM assigns hotels one- to five-star rating based on criteria established in 1998. But now a new and a more stringent system is expected to be put in place with old hotels retaining their star classification under the old system while new hotels would be measured under a stricter criteria.
Dubai hotel sector has been long waiting for the new classification to help them plan their marketing and promotional activities, especially in times of declining tourist numbers.
The department was originally scheduled to release a new classification system for Dubai hotels in the second quarter of 2008, with plans of introducing several new leisure-based categories. But the process has been under review for over a year.
According to Marri, various procedures pushed the process back a little bit. "Each category has different specifications and criterion. And we are trying to have a gap between categories," he said. He added that at present in each category there are in average about 50 hotels.
"Even though Dubai is seeing an increasing number of budget hotels coming on to the market, we will see an equal distribution of hotels in 2009 between budget and all other hotel categories," Marri said.
"With the one-star category of hotels today dominating the Dubai hotel market, the five-star category has still the largest number of rooms," he said.
According to earlier reports, the new classification law is supposed to include 15 categories of hotels, including business, spa, convention, boutique, desert resorts and heritage hotel.
Industry sources said that this time the reclassification would be based on services that hotels offer as against just facilities like it did earlier.
Asked if the DTCM has faced any objections from any of the Dubai hotels with regards to being re-classified, he said: "Our hotel partners are happy as they are already involved in the new criterion. They are with us in this whole process."
With regards to the number of hotel licences issued in the first quarter of 2009, Marri said: "Until now the number is the same as in the same period last year. But we will wait until the end of the year to see what the difference is." He, however, did not divulge the exact number of hotel licenses issued in 2008.
He further said DTCM has not cancelled any hotel licenses until now this year even though the tourism market has been strongly impacted by the economic downturn. "We did not receive any application from any of the hotels asking for their licence to be cancelled," said Marri.
"The new projects are already proceeding with their licencing. But maybe the new hotels that are yet to start the construction process, would want to delay or postpone their projects," he added.
"We are looking to finalise the whole process of new classification of Dubai hotels soon. We are hoping the new classification to be out in the third quarter of this year. We are just working out the logistics right now," Majid Saqr Al Marri, Director of Hotel Classification at DTCM, told Emirates Business.
The move comes shortly after the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) earlier this week classified all the 107 hotel premises operating in the emirate – 37 hotels and 66 hotels apartments – in accordance with the new guidelines.
The DTCM assigns hotels one- to five-star rating based on criteria established in 1998. But now a new and a more stringent system is expected to be put in place with old hotels retaining their star classification under the old system while new hotels would be measured under a stricter criteria.
Dubai hotel sector has been long waiting for the new classification to help them plan their marketing and promotional activities, especially in times of declining tourist numbers.
The department was originally scheduled to release a new classification system for Dubai hotels in the second quarter of 2008, with plans of introducing several new leisure-based categories. But the process has been under review for over a year.
According to Marri, various procedures pushed the process back a little bit. "Each category has different specifications and criterion. And we are trying to have a gap between categories," he said. He added that at present in each category there are in average about 50 hotels.
"Even though Dubai is seeing an increasing number of budget hotels coming on to the market, we will see an equal distribution of hotels in 2009 between budget and all other hotel categories," Marri said.
"With the one-star category of hotels today dominating the Dubai hotel market, the five-star category has still the largest number of rooms," he said.
According to earlier reports, the new classification law is supposed to include 15 categories of hotels, including business, spa, convention, boutique, desert resorts and heritage hotel.
Industry sources said that this time the reclassification would be based on services that hotels offer as against just facilities like it did earlier.
Asked if the DTCM has faced any objections from any of the Dubai hotels with regards to being re-classified, he said: "Our hotel partners are happy as they are already involved in the new criterion. They are with us in this whole process."
With regards to the number of hotel licences issued in the first quarter of 2009, Marri said: "Until now the number is the same as in the same period last year. But we will wait until the end of the year to see what the difference is." He, however, did not divulge the exact number of hotel licenses issued in 2008.
He further said DTCM has not cancelled any hotel licenses until now this year even though the tourism market has been strongly impacted by the economic downturn. "We did not receive any application from any of the hotels asking for their licence to be cancelled," said Marri.
"The new projects are already proceeding with their licencing. But maybe the new hotels that are yet to start the construction process, would want to delay or postpone their projects," he added.
