Dubai's tourism industry and upmarket hotel

Speaking before industry leaders at the MEED (Middle East Economic Digest) conference 'Major Project Development in Dubai' Jagersbacher said: "It is not difficult to find the rationale for the wealth of hotel-related projects in Dubai. With currently more than 105 airlines providing direct links from Dubai to 160 destinations worldwide, and Emirates Airlines' advance order of $15 billion of new aircraft, Dubai's International Airport anticipates more than 60 million passengers by 2010. These extraordinary forecasts speak volumes of the tremendous growth this city is yet to experience".

The latest region-wide industry survey undertaken by TRI Hospitality Consulting revealed over 9,628 rooms will become available by 2008, with more than 300 hotel expansion plans confirmed between 65 hotels on the Jumeirah and Jebel Ali Palm islands, 12 on Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Barsha, as well as seven hotel and resort developments on the emirate's now world famous Jumeirah coastline

"Having recorded one of the fastest growth rates among international destinations in 2002 and 2003, Dubai capped that excellent run by recording an over 90 percent occupancy rate for its hotel sector in 2004 - a year during which hotels generated over US $1.5-2 billion in business," he added.

Hilton has over the last few years built a strong presence in the Arabian Peninsula and an even stronger customer base. Guest loyalty was recently affirmed through the hotel's Guest Satisfaction Tracking Survey (GSTS) findings which recorded a significant improvement - one that has even surpassed the overall Middle East and Asia Pacific, as well as Worldwide average score for the leading hotel chain.

"We are pleased to announce that the overall satisfaction score for Hilton hotels in the Arabian Peninsula region has grown to 84%. Customer satisfaction is the best measure of success and it certainly demonstrates our strength in the leisure and business market," he commented.

Guest satisfaction for each hotel is measured on several performance areas including overall satisfaction, value for money, likelihood of visiting again, exceeding expectation and experiencing problems, as well as a number of key service areas ranging from arrival at hotel, check in and out, the room, food and beverage, to the hotel staff, safety, business, leisure and sporting facilities.