Emaar, Meraas launch Dubai economy hotel brand

By Andy Sambidge

• Saturday, 29 June 2013 2:31 PM

Emaar Properties and Meraas Holding on Saturday launched a new economy hotel brand called Dubai Inn. The hotels will be built in several locations around the city, Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties, said in a statement.

"One of the key drivers to achieving the Dubai Tourism Vision 2020, to double the number of annual tourists to 20 million by the turn of the decade, is to offer a wider choice of affordable hotels that appeal to the new generation of travellers," he said.

Abdulla Al Habbai, group chairman of Meraas Holding, added: "Dubai is focused on further strengthening its tourism sector, a key contributor to our economy...it is important to boost the hospitality sector with more affordable hotels to attract even larger numbers of tourists. We will develop affordable hotels with Emaar, under the new brand, to catalyse the city's hospitality sector."

Today, five-star hotel rooms account for nearly 62 percent of the total branded hotel inventory in the city.

In the future supply pipeline of over 42,000 hotel rooms in Dubai also, nearly 50 per cent are in the luxury and upper upscale segments.

Alabbar said: "There is tremendous potential in Dubai for growth in the affordable hotel sector. By creating a robust pipeline of affordable hotels under the Dubai Inn brand, we plan to attract more visitors to our city from the fast-growing markets in the Asia-Pacific, Africa, Europe and the wider Middle East."

According to the Dubai Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing, the city hosted over 10 million tourists last year, while the Dubai International Airport welcomed more than 58 million passengers.

Emaar currently owns and operates the five-star premium Address Hotels + Resorts, which today features five hotels in Dubai.

Emaar has also launched the ultra-luxury Armani Hotels & Resorts, with two hotels in its portfolio, the flagship Armani Hotel Dubai, located in Burj Khalifa, and Armani Hotel Milano, in Italy.

Most recently, Emaar launched Vida Hotels and Resorts, a stylish boutique hotel brand that meets the demands of the new generation of entrepreneurs and leisure travellers.