According to a study conducted by industry analysts TopHotelProjects, more than 150 new hotels are currently planned for Dubai, representing an additional 48,410 keys for the UAE’s hospitality sector.
This year alone, 79 hotels (26,168 keys) are scheduled to launch, with a further 34 planned for 2022. This represents an incredible show of confidence from developers, according to Global Building Solutions Partner Dan Charter, buoyed by the reopening of Dubai’s tourism sector towards the end of 2020.
“Dubai hospitality found a completely new demographic in the final quarter of 2020,” he said. “We saw a huge influx of visitors during the winter period, which I believe was made up of vast numbers for whom Dubai had never previously featured as a destination on their holiday bucket list.”
He continued: “It showed tremendous courage and foresight from Dubai’s leadership to open the emirate up to tourists again, and I think the upshot of that decision is reflected in the huge number of hospitality projects earmarked for future development here.”
With confidence in the market renewed, combined with the huge ambition of the Saudi Vision 2030, Charter sees huge potential for growth over the course of the next five years for Global Building Solutions and its brands, with Meraki Ceramics the flagship.
“We witnessed tremendous growth during the pandemic, and this was predominantly led by the fact that we enter the project cycle towards the final stages of a project. We’ve witnessed a slight lag in activity in the first quarter of 2021, which is reflected by a number of projects having been placed on hold during the initial lockdown period last year. However, we are fortunate enough to count a number of key developers and contractors as clients who resisted and took the long-term view on their current and planned projects. Throughout the region there are so many exciting new developments planned, and there is a vision for Saudi and the UAE to really motor on and become hospitality destinations that rival the world’s best. Nobody would bet against them accomplishing these goals.”
Meraki Ceramics is one of the brands owned by Global Building Solutions, providing ceramic and porcelain tiles and natural stone products for projects across the Middle East region.