Once reserved for wealthy travellers, Dubai’s top-notch hotels have become almost exclusively reliant on residents, drawn in by dizzying staycation offers as war drives tourists away. On the Palm, an artificial island that has become synonymous with Dubai opulence, five-star hotels are busy on weekends and holidays once more, despite having been deserted by tourists.
The clientele is driven by hotels offering residents-only deals that have become a lifeline for Dubai’s luxury tourism. “I had never been in a hotel on the Palm because the prices were crazy,” said Fadi Iskandarani, a doctor in his sixties who just spent his first weekend at a luxury resort on the Palm. The Lebanese national, who has lived in Dubai for five years, decided to opt for a staycation after he found that a hotel had cut its rates by a factor of four (25%).
With 19.5 million yearly tourists, Dubai is among the region’s top destinations and was long seen as a playground for the world’s rich and famous. Its 827 hotels – including 173 five-star establishments – boasted an average occupancy rate of more than 80%.
Since a shaky ceasefire came into effect on April 8 some tourists have trickled in, but hotels are mostly relying on local guests, said Michael Robinson, the general manager of the Anantara The Palm Dubai Resort. On Fridays and Saturdays, hotel occupancy sits between 70% and 90%, he said. Sunday through to Thursday, it has an average occupancy of around 20% to 30%. This new clientele has offered hotels a lifeline, allowing Anantara The Palm to remain “cash positive” without resorting to layoffs. But staycations are not enough on the long term. “Your staycation business is essentially one to two nights and that’s it… Whereas previously, the international market, they might come for one week,” Robinson said.
Should tourists stay away come July, when schools are closed and many families return home for the summer, “there won’t be as many people wishing to do staycations”, he said. Some hotels, including Burj Al Arab, have temporarily closed for renovations as business slowed. Others have cut staff or salaries, particularly hotels in downtown Dubai.
