Tourism Breaking News
Ahead of next week’s Arabian Hotel Investment Conference 2017 (AHIC), being held at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai from April 25 to 27, its speakers have unveiled insights into the global trends and market sentiment that are currently making an impact on the hospitality industry across the Middle East. Chairman of Bench Events and Co-founder of AHIC, Jonathan Worsley, said: “AHIC is the premium networking and knowledge platform for the hospitality investment community in the Middle East and beyond. As such, we are committed to providing our delegates with the very latest market intelligence and are thrilled to be unveiling new reports at AHIC 2017, including Global Megatrends from PwC and the AHIC BLP Market Sentiment Survey Review in partnership with Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP (BLP).”
On April 26, PwC Middle East’s Partner and Deals Real Estate Leader Dr. Martin Berlin, will present, for the first time, the new PwC Report Global Megatrends and their impact on Hospitality in the Middle East. Presented by Gurdish Bassi, Economist, GRMC Advisory Consulting, this report will provide a unique insight into Dubai tourist spend patterns, activities and motives – and analyse how the tourist profile will evolve by 2021. In a sneak preview of the Dubai Tourist Profiling Report, GRMC Advisory Consulting forecasts a “conspicuous change” in the distribution of tourists coming to Dubai.
Bassi explained: “Multiple primary research campaigns with hotel guests across Dubai revealed that 34 per cent of Asian visitors were first-time overseas travellers – this statistic increases to 62 per cent when only two-star and three-star hotels are considered. As affluence levels in Tier-II and III cities of Asian economies rise, an increasing number of first-time overseas travellers will seek Dubai as the first choice of destination, as it offers a comprehensive mix of activities, and is strategically located. As more Asians (increasingly from second and third-tier cities) replace Westerners, spending will witness growth levels lower than growth in number of visitors. Dubai is on track to reach the target of 20 million tourists (hotel / hotel apartment and staying with friends / family combined) by 2020 – this implies a 7% annualised growth rate up to 2020. However, the expenditure by these tourists will only grow by 4.5% because of the underlying change in visitor profile. ”
