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Dubai: The hotel inventory in the UAE - the biggest tourism market in the Gulf - is expected to triple to 180,000 rooms by 2015 from 60,000 currently, according to available statistics, while room shortage is pushing rates up making Dubai, the country's commercial capital, one of the most expensive in the world.
Dubai's hotel rooms are expected to triple in the next seven years to 141,000, said a top official.
Abu Dhabi, which is grooming the city as a cultural tourism destination, is also doubling its room capacity to 25,000 by 2012 rising to 75,000 by 2030, as part of a government plan.
"Currently there are 47,000 hotel rooms in Dubai with plans to triple that to 141,000 rooms by 2015," Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Group, said in a statement.
"This represents a massive number of hotels to be constructed in the next seven years."
Dubai initially had projected to serve 15 million hotel guests by 2010. This excludes visiting friends and relatives and represents only hotel guests.
Airports in the UAE handled more than 45 million passengers last year. More than 34 million passenger passed through Dubai International Airport last year.
Shaikh Ahmad, while announcing the Emirates results last week, confirmed the figures, saying, "Being based in Dubai also has its advantages as the city itself is already preparing to welcome 15 million visitors by 2010 and there is massive investment in infrastructure to serve and attract the increasing number of expatriates."
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